When Two Broken Hearts Collide
by LumosNox93
Summary: The war has ended and all should be bliss but Hermione's life couldn't be further from that. Stuck in a job she hates, a marriage to a man suffering from the war who is unfaithful to her, she can't help but think that there is more to her life than this. Somewhere in Britain, another wizard finds himself in the same situation except he was on the war's losing side.
1. Chapter 1

The kettle boiled and a bleary eyed witch shuffled into the kitchen. As she placed a tea-bag into her mug she glanced up at the clock. It wasn't an ordinary clock, but like an ordinary clock, it had two hands. However instead of indicating the time, it read the location of the inhabitants of the apartment.

Ronald Weasley was 'OUT'.

"Nothing new there" Hermione muttered to herself as she poured the boiling water into the mug. She pulled back the sleeve of her dressing-gown and her watch told her it was four in the morning. Hermione added milk to her tea and made her way into the living room curling up in her favourite armchair that had once belonged to her father. She sipped absentmindedly at her tea and her pet kneazle, Crookshanks, leapt lightly onto her lap.

Then she heard him, like she did every morning. The heavy footsteps in the corridor, fumbling, the dropping on keys, and the loud swearing. She finally heard the key entering the lock and turning, she braced herself for what was coming next.

In the entrance, a tall man with flaming red hair half fell through the door and tried to regain his posture. He looked up and noticed Hermione in the living-room, she noticed his bloodshot eyes, his half undone shirt, and a suspicious looking mark on his neck.

"Oh…" he slurred "Hermione, whatcha doin' at this bloody time?"

"I could ask you the same question Ronald" she replied curtly "but I doubt you would give me an honest answer"

"Oh come on 'mione, you know how it goes, we had to follow some new tracks, finished late, and then we went for a drink in the Leakey Cauldron before heading home"

This was a story that Hermione had heard many times, at first she had believed it and felt outraged that the Ministry of Magic, and the Head of the Auror Deparment, who also happened to be her best-friend, had been working her husband so hard.

She also had believed his innocence every time a new story appeared in the Daily Prophet, witches claiming the have spent the night with the "Chosen One's Best Friend". She had believed it because at the beginning Harry Potter, her best-friend and head of the aurora department had also been subjected to these obscene accusations. He had supposedly been with women on nights where he, his wife Ginny, Ron and Hermione had been out for dinner together, so Hermione knew he had never been unfaithful to Ginny and thought Ron was just as faithful.

As time passed on the stories about Harry Potter stopped appearing in the newspaper, and the stories about Ron became almost a weekly publication, and Ron had constantly came home in the early hours of the morning, smelling of Fire-Whisky and cheap perfume and at times, in what Hermione considered an insult to her intelligence, with his shirt inside out.

But the last few weeks were slightly different, Ron Weasley had come back smelling of the same expensive perfume, Hermione had noticed and she knew that this was no longer serial-cheating, there was another woman he was regularly seeing.

"Was Harry with you?" Asked Hermione, in a casual tone, whilst stirring her tea.

"Yeah of course" said Ron, trying his hardest to not slur his words.

"Funny" said Hermione looking up at him and looking him straight in the eye, "Harry and Ginny both came over at eight o'clock saying they were going out for dinner and asking whether we would like to join them since you all finished work early today"

"Oh… well… 'mione" Ron started stuttering looking at his feet

"Let me finish Ronald" Hermione cut him off curtly "I do not care if you are out, getting drunk to forget the war, because trust me, I haven't forgotten it either and it still haunts me. What I do care about is that you have not been faithful to this marriage for over two years and that last night, my best friends saw me as a naive fool thanks to you."

"I haven't done any-" he started angrily

"Oh Ronald Please" she got up and Crookshanks dropped to the floor, standing beside her master " Do not insult my intelligence, inside out shirts, the lipstick I have to clean off those shirts, the stench of female perfume. Plus you might have wanted to apply a glamour spell on your neck."

"You're barking mad" Ron said, throwing his coat onto the sofa and making his way towards the bedroom "you're just looking for an excuse to end this"

"WHAT?" Hermione felt like someone had hid her with a stunning spell "THIS IS MY FAULT?!"

"You have no proof of anything Hermione, all you do is accuse me of being unfaithful so that you don't have to come anywhere near me anymore" Ron continued, turning around the face her in the dimly lit hallway of their apartment.

"You want proof!?" Hermione spat at him "Give me your wand"

"What in Merli-"

"Your wand Ronald Weasley, NOW"

He threw the wand at her and she caught it. She held the tip of her wand to his and said clearly "Prior Incantato". Her heart was beating fast, she prayed that she was wrong. That Ron was right and that all of this was her just being paranoid. Her face fell and she threw his wand back at him.

"So, how long has it been since you and I slept together?" She asked him

"What the ruddy hell is that for a quest-" he started, looking confused

"I remember it being at least a month" she said cooly " which is why I don't understand why the last spell your wand produced was a contraceptive spell, plus, you know I take a contraceptive potion so you have never needed to use that spell"

And then there was silence, a silence so eery and heavy that Hermione felt like a heavy weight had been placed upon her chest, making it harder to breath. After what seemed like an eternity she look at her husband and broke the silence.

"Who is she?" She said

"No one" Ron replied "I'm going to bed, I need to be at work in a few hours. We can speak tomorrow"

"No Ronald" she whispered, slowly advancing on him, her wand clenched in her fist " we are not going to speak tomorrow. I am your wife and you owe me an explanation right now"

"My wife?!" He laughed "You called yourself a wife Hermione? Tell me when's the last time you cooked a proper meal? When's the last time you looked after me or gave a rat's ass about me Hermione?!"

Hermione felt like someone had just slapped her across the face and a boiling hot anger started to rise inside of her, it had been there, lying dormant for months but this was too much, she wasn't holding it in anymore.

"Ron, it seems you are unable to tell the difference between a mother and a wife" she said still taking slow, small steps towards him "feeding you three full meals a day, caring for you when you're ill, your mother did that for you, and I am NOT your mother"

"DON'T YOU DARE" Ron roared

"You want to know what I did for you Ronald? I saved your arse more times that I can count, thanks to me you got semi-decent results at school which allowed you to become an auror. I stood beside you through the war, I loved you when the world was crumbling down around us. I tried to help you get over the trauma we both lived, and I married you, remember?"

she flicked her wand and a picture soared through the flat towards them and hovered in front of Ron who looked gobsmacked.

"Remember our wedding day?" Hermione continued not stopping for breath "I didn't promise be your house-elf, I promised to love you through thick and thin and I have. I have turned a blind eye too many times, I, the girl who was described as the brightest witch of her age, was made to look like an absolute idiot for you and what did you do?"

she flicked her wand again and the frame and glass exploded. Ron let out a strangled yell and dropped to the floor, his arms covering his face.

"That's what you did to me" she said and strode down the corridor and into their bedroom.

Without thinking she grabbed a bag and started piling clothes into it. It was as if her body had taken control and her mind had no say. She went into the bathroom, grabbed all her make-up, tooth-brush and hair brush. She stepped back into the corridor and looked her the man who she had married. The man she thought she would grow old with and the man who would father her children.

He sat there, in the middle of the somber hallway staring at the shards of glass and the pieces of photograph surrounding him. Tears streaking down his freckled face, he put his head in his hands. Hermione could see his back heaving. He was crying.

Normally, Hermione would have wanted to go and comfort him, put an arm around him and tell him that they would find a way. But she couldn't. The sight of him made her nauseous and their apartment seemed smaller than ever, and she felt like she was suffocating. She walked down the hallway and bent over to pick up Crookshanks, who had run away and been hiding under her armchair.

She straightened up and walked towards the front door, stopping only to place a golden ring with ruby on a table beside the front door. Inside the ring read the words, "Forever and Always"


	2. Chapter 2

The cold London wind made her hair whip around her face as she stepped foot outside. Glancing down she realised that over her sweatpants and shirt she was still wearing her fluffy bathrobe. Hastily she took it off and quickly pulled out a black leather jacket out of her bag and put it on.

She started walking. Not knowing what to do. Not knowing where to go.

For the past two years she had had suspicions that Ron was being unfaithful to her, but that was all that they were, suspicions. It was only today that she seen conclusive proof of his infidelity. She had told herself that maybe it was just a phase that would pass. After all, Ron and Hermione had gotten married at such a young age, looking back it was as if they had been pressured by society to marry after the war as a symbol of love and hope after such a dark period.

They had only slept with each other, they were what the press labelled as, childhood sweethearts. Hermione had often wondered if Ron had just been curious about other women, and as she was not an extremely jealous person she would have understood if he had just explained it to her, maybe they could have come to a compromise without breaking the marriage they had built?

"Too bloody late for that" She muttered angrily as she kept on walking with her head down and her bag swinging by her side, Crookshanks in her arms.

After half an hour of walking Hermione found herself in front of a neat little block of flats, her parents had saved up to invest in an apartment for Hermione in case she ever found herself needing a place to live after her education.

Ron had refused to move into the apartment with her because he said that it wasn't his home and he would feel uncomfortable sharing a flat that was just Hermione's. And she had understood that because Hermione would never have moved into the Burrow either, although that had more to do with living with her in-law's than anything else. They had moved into a small shabby flat, promising each other that this was just a temporary home whilst they found the perfect house, but years had passed and they had never made much of an effort to find their dream home because they were so caught up in their respective careers.

Hermione was the assistant to the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Richard Perkins. Percy Weasley had been the head of the department but had moved abroad to pursue his political career in America, far from all the memories of the war. Everyone in the ministry had thought that Hermione would replace Percy but instead, Richard Perkins had been appointed and when she had confronted Kingsley Shacklebolt about the appointment he had told her that she was still very young and at the beginning of her career at the Ministry of Magic. However, it was common knowledge that Hermione was much brighter and more efficient than Richard Perkins, which caused Richard to be cold and dismissive of Hermione.

She pushed number 2 button in the elevator and waited for the robotic voice to call out "Doors Opening" she made her way down the corridor to apartment number 208, put her key into the lock and pushed the door open. She put Crookshanks down onto the floor, locked the door behind her and flicked on the lights.

The apartment was beautiful and spacious, much nicer than the one she and Ron shared. The high ceilings white walls and large windows gave it a large, clean feel that she loved. She made her way into the kitchen and opened the fridge, there wasn't much in it as she rarely came around except to clean and make sure everything was functioning a few times a month. There were a few small bottles of water and a bottle of Spanish white wine.

Without thinking twice Hermione reached for the bottle and poured herself a very generous glass. She made her way to the bedroom with the glass and bottle still in hand, in case she fancied a second or even third glass. Her room was made up of a soft carpet, a kingsize bed with a beautiful crushed velvet headboard and two mirrored bedside tables with elegant lamps placed upon them. She switched on a lamp on her bedside table and placed her glass onto a white marble coaster and made her way into the ensuite bathroom.

She looked her her watch and saw that it was already quarter to six in the morning. Ron would be getting ready for work in about an hour and a half. He was expected to go into work on Saturday mornings in order to review cases and have everything ready for Monday morning, Hermione wasn't thankfully. Dropping her bag on the floor of the bathroom, she pulled out her bathrobe, a fresh shirt and a pair of fluffy pyjama bottoms. She turned on the shower and wriggled out of her clothes, and as she stepped under the steaming hot shower she let out a low groan. She stood there for about forty-five minutes, trying to empty her mind and hoping if she scrubbed hard enough she might wash off the feelings of anger and confusion that covered her.

Finally she stepped out of the shower and whipped the steamed mirror. She stared at her reflection that stared back at her. She had round, warm brown eyes and some freckles dusted her nose and cheeks. Her face, once round had become much slimmer, this was a result of growing up as well as stress. Her lips were plump and very pink. All the childish innocence her face once held was gone.

She wrapped a fluffy white towel around herself and grabbed her wand from her bag, pointing it at her hair which proceeded to dry in a number of seconds. Her locks that had once been long, were now resting on her shoulders and Hermione did her best to keep her hair tamed into neat curls. She finally slipped into her fresh pyjamas and made her way back to the bed, grabbing her glass of wine and taking a long sip. Crookshanks leapt up onto the bed and curled up on her legs.

Hermione thought she should be crying on the floor, an absolute mess, but she wasn't. She felt more anger than she did sadness, it was as if she knew the relationship would come to an end sooner or later, she was just angry they couldn't have ended it on more civilised terms. The same question swam around her mind; who was Ron now seeing? Who was this mystery woman with the expensive perfume? As she poured herself another generous glass of wine she wondered how she would tell her friends, after-all, her friends were also Ron's friends. Would Ginny hate her for ending things with her brother? Would Harry take Ron's side simply because they were men? What if she ran into Ron at work? Her eyes felt heavy and she realised it was almost eight in the morning and she hadn't slept all night. She drained her glass and placed it on her bedside table before turning over and falling into a surprisingly deep sleep.

" .BANG"

Hermione leapt out of bed and looked at the bedside clock. It was one in the afternoon and by the sound of it, someone was trying bring down her front door.

'Ron' she thought to herself. And she wrapped her bathrobe around her and marched towards her front door, she wrenched it opened and was about to start screaming when her jaw dropped. A young woman with waist length flaming red-hair stood at the door holding two large coffee's in takeaway mugs.

"Ginny?" Hermione stammered, not quite sure how to react.

"I take it you weren't expecting me?" Said Ginny winking at her before striding past her into the apartment "I always loved this place and never understood why Ron refused to live here" she continued and she placed the coffees on the kitchen counter and sat on a high stool, looking at her. She was wearing a baby blue V-neck t-shirt with a pair of jeans with holes in them and on her feet were a pair of black converses. Hermione made her way over to the counter and sat across from Ginny. Not sure what her friend knew and not entirely sure why she was visiting her.

There was a short silence and Ginny passed her a coffee and grabbed her own.

"So" Ginny said "Talk to me"

"About what?" Said Hermione

"About what the hell my prat of a brother has done this time" said Ginny cooly "Harry told me he didn't turn up at work today and when I went to visit mum at The Burrow she told me Ron was upstairs in his bedroom and didn't want to see anyone."

"Well I'm sure you already know what happened then" Hermione answered shortly

"Actually I don't" said Ginny sipping on her coffee and smacking her lips "according to mum he hasn't spoken a word to anyone since he got back home. But I know my brother, I know when someone else has done something wrong he won't hesitate to let the whole world know, but when it's him who's in the wrong, he barely opens his mouth. So what did he do?"

"He's your brother" Hermione said "I am not going to turn anyone against him no matter what he did"

"And I consider you my sister" said Ginny "whether or not you and my brother are together. Just as he will always be my brother, you will always be my sister. So do me a favour and start talking before I have to hex it out of you"

Hermione smiled and took a long swig from her coffee. She didn't know how to tell her. She hadn't spoken about this to anyone.

"It's over Ginny. The marriage is over for good" she said

"I gathered that when you walked in and saw your ring wasn't on your finger" said Ginny "you and my brother have fought before but I've never seen you take off your ring. So what happened to push you to end it?"

"There's someone else" Hermione said and resorted to telling Ginny everything that had happened last night.

"What an absolute prat" spat Ginny "I swear to Merlin I will go over the Burrow right now and hex his…"

"I don't think that's necessary" said Hermione "I just wish I knew who he's been seeing"

Ginny smiled and look mischievously up at Hermione.

"Maybe we can find out…"

"How?" Said Hermione

"Bloody hell Hermione, aren't you suppose to be 'the brightest witch of her age'" groaned Ginny "All we have to do is modify our appearances and follow my brother when he's out drinking"

Hermione mulled over the idea.

"I don't know Ginny…" she said slowly

"Do you want to find out or not?" Snapped Ginny "because my prat of a brother doesn't seem to even have the decency to tell you, so I say we do our own digging and find out. At least you'll then have closure and I'll know which witch I have to hex"

"Why are you doing this for me?" Said Hermione "he's your brother"

"And you're my best friend" said Ginny "Blood or not, I don't let that blind me to the fact that he's in the wrong and that my best friend is hurt. You didn't think I'd just toss you aside and take Ron's side did you?"

Hermione shrugged and felt tears starting to burn her eyes. Without saying anything Ginny hopped off her stool, and hugged her friend tightly. The stayed like this for a bit until Ginny finally let go and grabbed her shoulders and said "Now get ready, we're going shopping!"

"I don't think…" Hermione started

"You and I are going to Diagon Alley to get some new clothes and transform ourselves into two unrecognisable witches!" She winked "Now off you go! Get ready!"

Hermione groaned as she grabbed her coffee and dragged herself to the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Apologises for the long absence! I hope some of you will still want to read the rest of this story. Thank you so much for each and everyone of you that left a review and followed this story - it means the world to me and I look forward to hearing from more of you!**_

 _ **PS: I know this chapter is a bit shorter but it seemed like a natural place to start and stop. I promise the next ones (which are in the works) will be longer!**_

 _ **Lots of love and magic,**_

 _ **Lumos Nox**_

Hermione had only been in her room for a minute when Ginny came bustling in. She was, the human personification of a tornado, she was strong, formidable and would take down anything that stood in her way.

She snooped through Hermione's drawers and closet and said "Bloody hell Hermione, there's barely anything in here".

"Yeah… I only grabbed a few things last night, most of it is still at the other apartment".

Her stomach sank at the though of this, most of her belongings were there, were Ron lived, the one person she did not want to see because she knew if she did he would guilt her into giving the marriage yet another chance. As if able to read Hermione's mind Ginny quickly said,

"I can always pick up your stuff or send someone to get it for you, but personally, I think it's time for a change"

"A change?" Said Hermione

"You know" said Ginny kindly as she threw a plain white t-shirt and some jeans at Hermione "after a big break-up or life-changing event, it's always good to re-invent yourself, give yourself a clean slate, a new start".

Hermione considered this as she sat on her bed, sipping on her tea. It wasn't like her to be rebellious, to change radically. She has always been quite conservative and gave more importance to work than her wardrobe and her appearance. It was probably this that had pushed her now-former husband to search for other witches. This thought lit a fire in her belly and made her blood bubble, anger simmering inside her.

She swigged the last of her coffee and said, "you're right. It's time for a change and you're going to help me" in a voice that was much more confident than what she felt.

Ginny, who was bent over browsing through Hermione's shoes got up so fast she smacked her head on a shelf. She swore loudly, then composed herself.

"Really?" She said feeling her head to make sure there wasn't a bump "I thought it would take a lot more convincing than that".

"I'm tired of being predictable, of being boring and of putting everyone and everything else before myself" Hermione explained, convincing herself as much as Ginny that this was the right thing to do.

"Exactly!" Said Ginny throwing a pair of black flats at her "now go get ready, lots of shopping to do!"

Hermione smiled as she grabbed her clothes and made her way into the bathroom. She changed into her white shirt and skinny jeans and looked at her own reflection. There were bags under her puffy eyes, and her hair was unkept and wild.

She grabbed her wand and in a moment had her hair tamed into neat curls. She then splashed some cold water onto her face, dried it and quickly put on some foundation and concealer to hide the tiredness. Grabbing her mascara and eyeliner she quickly did her eyes, popped on some lip balm and slipped her flats on.

She went back into her bedroom, grabbed a small black leather handbag where she put her wallet, wand, and cellphone (there were certain muggle contraptions she felt were useful, a cellphone was one of them). Making her way back into the kitchen she saw Ginny who in the living room, sprawled on the sofa.

"I'm ready" called Hermione from the kitchen as she pocketed her keys and Ginny bound to her feet.

"Let's go!" She said excitedly, flashing a dazzling smile.

The two witches made their way through London, picking up another coffee along the way and chatting away. It was a warm autumn day and despite what seemed like her life crashing around her, Hermione felt free and happy; she had missed her best friend.

They turned a corner and made their way into the grubby pub called the Leakey Cauldron. Both Ginny and Hermione put their heads down and made their way through the pub quickly. Neither felt like being recognised or bumping into a Daily Prophet journalist.

Moments later, they were standing in Diagon Alley. Hermione smiled, it brought back memories of shopping for school books, robes and quills in preparation for Hogwarts. They entered the first shop, and Ginny set to work, making her way through dress robes, and dresses.

"Err. Ginny?" Said Hermione

"Yes?"

"Those are a bit fancy, when am I suppose to wear something like that?"

"You need to get out more, drinks, clubs, and for starters the Ministry Christmas party that is coming up soon"

Hermione groaned. She was suppose to have been attending that with Ron. They both worked at the Ministry and always attended work events together. She supposed that Ron would still be attending, but she didn't know which witch would be on his arm. The thought of that brought back the familiar pang of anger.

"Right, lets go to the changing rooms!" Said Ginny with a mountain of clothes in her arms.

Hermione tried on a long silver gown that trailed on the floor and had a plunging back, a black dress with a slit up the leg, and a small tube dress that was emerald green.

"Green?" Hermione said, stepping out of the dressing room.

Ginny whistled at her and got up

"You look incredible in that!" Said Ginny "and I know you and I are both proud Gryffindors but green looks great on you!"

Hermione turned and looked at herself in the mirror, she wasn't use to showing much leg, or anything else for that matter. But instead of being uncomfortable she felt empowered, even sexy, her legs were slim, but muscular, her cleavage was highlighted instead of hidden and the colour did look good.

"You're right. This is good."

She purchased all the dresses along with some new formal dress robes, they made their way through all the shops in Diagon Alley and shopped to their hearts content and Hermione even picked up a stack of books.

On their way back to Hermione's flat they even stopped in some muggle shops. Despite being a pureblood Ginny loved muggle fashion and they both treated themselves to some new handbags and heels.

Finally they made it back. Hermione dumped all her bags in her room and perched herself on the kitchen counter waiting for the kettle to boil.

"Isn't Harry expecting you?" Asked Hermione, grabbing two mugs and dropping teabags into them.

"No" said Ginny "I warned him I would be spending time with you, in fact he was the one who told me to spend as much time as I needed to make sure you were ok"

Hermione smiled as the handed Ginny a mug and they both sat down and sipped on their tea.

"Bet you didn't tell him we were going to go out disguised as other witches and stalk my ex-husband" Hermione said.

"I didn't know we'd be doing that until I got here" said Ginny innocently but smiled wickedly.

She then looked up at Hermione and asked "you reckon Ron will be out tonight? I mean you two did just split up, surely he'll be at mum's sulking"

"On the contrary" said Hermione putting down her mug and tapping her fingers on the table "it seemed like the worse things got, the more Ron drank and the less time he spent at home. That's why nothing ever got fixed because he was never there"

"Prat" said Ginny, adding some honey to her tea before looking at Hermione intently.

"What are you looking at?" Said Hermione

"I'm trying to decide what colour I'm changing your hair to for tonight. I'm thinking black"

Hermione laughed, "shall we start getting ready?"

"It's like you read my mind" grinned Ginny.

The two witches made their way into the bedroom. Hermione had found another bottle of wine and they put on some loud music.

"Right! Come here" said Ginny, bouncing onto the bed and patting the spot next to her, Hermione sat. Ginny pulled out her wand and started murmuring underneath her breath.

Minutes later she said "there you go!"

Hermione walked into her bathroom and gasped. Her hair was straight and went down to her waist and was black.

Ginny walked in and Hermione stared, she had turned her hair blonde, shoulder length and curled it and had put a glamour charm to conceal her freckles.

"I think we look hot" said Ginny, teasing her curls with her fingers and examining her reflection "here put this on"

She handed her the little emerald green dress and Hermione shrugged off her clothes and slipped into it. She was unrecognisable to anyone who knew her.

They spent the next hour applying each others makeup, picking out shoes and handbags as they made their way through the bottle of wine.

"RIGHT!" Said Ginny and she got up and danced around "LETS GO!"

Hermione got up, looked In the mirror one last time and smiled - it was going to be nice being someone else for a night.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a chilly evening, but it was thankfully dry. They huddled together to keep warm and got into a taxi which took them to the road where the Leaky Cauldron was located. The two witches made their way in, heads turned to look at who had come in, but not being recognised, the pairs of eyes turned away from them.

"I'll go get us drinks" said Ginny "you go get a table"

Hermione made her way to a table near the fire and seated herself, looking around to see who was here. She recognised a few faces of people who worked at the ministry as well as some former pupils from Hogwarts. But no sign of Ron.

Maybe Ginny had been right, maybe he felt so guilty of his dishonesty and infidelity that he couldn't bring himself to leave the burrow. Maybe this time he realised the damage he had caused to their marriage. Maybe this time he realised that Hermione was serious and wasn't coming back and for the first time since she had stormed out of their apartment and left her wedding ring behind, she felt a sadness growing inside her.

Before she could dwell on Ron or her sadness any longer, Ginny was back, she had got them two shots of Fire-Whisky and two large ButterBeers. Without saying a word Hermione grabbed the shot, and threw it back. The alcohol at first burned her throat but them left a strangely pleasant warm sensation all over her. Ginny did the same and looked around.

"No sign of you-know-who then?" She said

Hermione laughed, "No, apparently not" she said.

"Well even if the prat doesn't turn up it doesn't mean that you and I can't get drunk and have a good time" said Ginny, now grabbing the ButterBeer and taking a swig of it.

"You're right" Hermione said "I think it's just sinking in that my marriage has fallen apart. I guess I always thought that Ron and I would last forever"

"It doesn't have to be over" said Ginny in a gentle voice " don't get me wrong I think what my brother did is a completely disgusting, and I don't blame you if you do end it, but look around; any other evening he would be here getting drunk beyond recognition, and tonight - no sign of him"

Hermione stewed over this but then all of a sudden the door of the pub swung open and in walked Ron Weasley. Ginny groaned as Ron made his way to the bar and the waitress placed in front of him a large glass of Fire-Whisky.

"I have to end it" Hermione said to Ginny as they both observed the redhead who was taking sips of his glass and Ginny nodded and just said "I understand" and grabbed Hermione's hand, giving it a squeeze.

It seemed that Ron was spending the evening by himself as no one joined him, he was making his way through copious amounts of Fire-Whisky and as time went on, his posture was more and more slouched.

Ginny went over to get them more drinks and returned minutes later from the bar saying

"He looks a right mess doesn't he" and Hermione couldn't help but agree, the war had affected all of them but Ron hadn't known how to handle it all. He'd never gotten over Fred's death and even avoided seeing George as it reminded him all too much of the brother he had lost. He he'd never known how to address the press who were suddenly obsessed with him. He'd gone from being invisible to being a name that everyone in the wizarding world knew. It was difficult to be known for something so awful and Hermione understood that. She had offered to go to see someone together but Ron had refused help, the only comfort he seemed was the one at the bottom of a bottle of Fire-Whisky.

Hermione then got up.

"What are you doing?" Said Ginny looking surprised.

"Just going to get us another round of drinks" and she went up to the bar and waited. Ron looked at her up and down and then took another swig of Fire-Whisky. He did look a mess, there were big bags underneath his eyes, his face was red and blotched and she couldn't tell whether the bloodshot eyes were from crying of the alcohol.

She ordered her drinks and could feel Ron's gaze on her. She was torn. Part of her was flattered to have Ron looking at her like that, the other half of her was heartbroken to see him look at another woman that way, for there wasn't anyway that Ron knew it was her. The waiter placed her drinks in front of her and just as Hermione was about to say something to Ron something caught her eye. On his left hand on his fourth finger, were his wedding band had been for years, was nothing.

She paid, grabbed the drinks and returned to the table trying to keep her composure. Here she was worrying that Ron was distraught over the thought of losing her, but here he was at a bar and had been very quick to ditch his ring and take up the Fire-Whisky.

She sat down and Ginny observed her before saying

"Everything ok?"

"Everything is fine" answered Hermione, "I'm just gathering more and more proof that this marriage really is over. I guess I thought he really would change if he felt it was over but I think we fell in love when we were young and grew up to be different people then the ones we fell in love with… It's just difficult to admit that"

"Harry and I fell in love at around the same time, if not before you two" mused Ginny " I remember everyone telling us our marriage wouldn't last, that a common girl like a Weasley would never hold on to 'The Chosen One' and for the longest time I lived in fear that Harry would wake up one day and realise he'd settled for me because he didn't think he'd live another day"

"You were scared Harry would fall out of love with you?" Asked Hermione with a mixture of shock and amusement "The boy has been crazy for you for as long as I can remember. Well at least since he started to notice girls"

"That's the point. Even the strongest marriages has their doubts, I'm sure he's had his too" said Ginny "the difference is when it gets tough, and believe me it does, we don't seek comfort in others or in the bottom of a bottle of the strongest liquor we can find" she finished glaring over at the brother who had ordered another pint-sized glass of Fire-Whisky

"I suppose you're right" said Hermione thoughtfully as she took another swig of her ButterBeer

"Of course I am. Relationship's aren't easy but when you love someone loyalty is, you owe it to yourself to move on and heal, and one day find someone who will fall asleep holding you for you to wake up still in that person's arms. You should be the first and last thing on your partners mind and you shouldn't settle for anything less"

Hermione looked down at her glass, feeling embarrassed

"Don't get me wrong" Ginny continued holding Hermione's hand "the fact you stayed with him doesn't make you weak, or less of a woman. It makes you forgiving, it makes you strong for giving second and third chances when no one else would have. But there comes a time when kindness can be mistaken for naivety and even foolishness. You're still kind, but don't ever be foolish. You're the brightest witch of your age remember"

Hermione felt her emotions swell up inside her and to avoid saying anything she finished off her glass of ButterBeer. Ginny smiled and as if she knew Hermione needed a moment to compose herself muttered she was getting the next round and set off towards the bar. Hermione didn't drink often and could feel the affect of the alcohol, the warming feeling inside, her sharpness slipping and her emotions heightened. She didn't feel in control and for one of the first times in her life she didn't care. She didn't have work tomorrow and she could get drunk without anyone knowing it was her.

As if by telepathy Ginny came back with three shots for each of them and two pints of ButterBeer each.

"Bottoms up" she said and they started making their way through the shots, the golden liquid burning their throats and warming their insides. It was very welcome and the two girls started giggling and talking

"So" said Ginny "who are we going to set you up with?"

Hermione laughed "who would want a divorcee as a date, especially me!"

"You do not give yourself enough credit, look at your body. If wasn't married I'd date you!" Said Ginny

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Giggled Hermione " do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"No but I do kiss Harry" she grinned "and that's not all…"

"Enough!" Said Hermione "Harry's like my brother, I do NOT want to know what you two get up to"

"Right so back to the subject at hand, a date for the brightest witch of her age" said Ginny " What about Longbottom?"

"Neville?" Said Hermione "Isn't he with Hannah Abbott? Speaking of Hannah I thought she worked here?"

"Ahaaa" Said Ginny leaning in "Rumour has it they've had a big fight and split up, Hannah's taken it pretty badly and has taken time off and gone travelling"

"Where on earth do you pick up on this gossip?" Said Hermione

"I am the senior quidditch reporter for The Daily Prophet" said Ginny "which means not only does the newspaper not dare publish my name or my husband anymore but I hear all the other reporters whispering about the latest gossip, they're not very discreet"

"Still a pile of rubbish" muttered Hermione and Ginny laughed

"You don't like it because your relationship has been reported about more than anyone else"

"Wish you'd tell them to stop reporting about me" Hermione saiid

"It's not that easy, if you were a Quidditch player I could but I'm not a senior reporter or manager for the Celebrity section"

"Celebrity" scoffed Hermione

"Say whatever you want but you sell papers and you know it. And once you start dating a new hunk they'll be all over it, so we better think this through - what about Neville?"

"I mean… It's Neville" said Hermione "He's sweet and kind, but I still see him as the boy who I needed to protect"

"You seem to forget him decapitating Voldemort's snake" Ginny reminded her

"Ron might decapitate his snake if he finds out I'm sleeping with Neville" said Hermione and Ginny laughed.

"Sod Ron! He had his chance he blew it, I don't expect you to hex whichever stuck-up witch he brings home… That's for me to do!" And they both fell into a fit of giggles.

"I mean he is handsome now" said Hermione who had recently seen a picture of Hogwarts' newly appointed Herbology teacher in an article "I don't know"

"Let's keep thinking" said Ginny "Still in touch with Krum?"

"No" laughed Hermione "I'm not dating a quidditch player! The amount of girls fawning over him, plus he was boring, never had anything to talk about"

"I wouldn't have thought of him as boring" said Ginny winking

"Ginevra you need to stop drinking!"

"Oh tell me I'm wrong"

"I wouldn't know, we only went as far as snogging, and if that was anything to go by he would have been a disappointment"

They both fell back into a fit of giggles. This was very unlike them but the alcohol had turned them back into a pair of gossiping teenage witches.

"What about Zabini?

"Blaise Zabini?" Said Hermione arching her eyebrow "The Slytherin from the Slug Club?"

"The very one and before you start" Ginny said cutting through Hermione "he's not as bad as you think. He came into the Daily Prophet headquarters for an interview and he is actually quite polite and charming, and not bad on the eyes either might I add"

"But he's a Slytherin" cried Hermione "and I bet his parents were Death Eaters"

"Well he's had six step-fathers and his actual father, all of which are dead" said Ginny "plus you remember Slughorn strictly didn't invite children of Death Eaters to the Slug Club, no matter how famous the family"

"But he's a Slytherin" mumbled Hermione

"We're not at Hogwarts anymore 'Mione!" Said Ginny slamming her hands on the table and making the couple sat at the table next to them stare "and thank-Merlin for that! We spent years judging each other based on the house we belonged in and in constant competition"

"But.."

"No!" Continued Ginny " Didn't the war teach you anything?! It's time to stop judging people based on their families, their blood-lines and Hogwarts houses"

Hermione felt embarrassed, Ginny was right. It was just hard to look part certain prejudices the Slytherins had after all been the ones who had made her life a misery and bullied her whilst at Hogwarts

"I'm not asking you to marry anyone" laughed Ginny "just get out there, have some fun, get back on the horse!"

"You're right" said Hermione looking around

"What about Seamus over there?" Said Ginny nodding towards the corner

"Not really my type" said Hermione "He's very destructive and a bit too short for my liking"

"Fair enough" said Ginny "plus he was prat to Harry at school"

"I thought we weren't at school anymore" grinned Hermione

"I find it hard to forgive those who have insulted my husband" said Ginny

On the midst of their giggles the door of the Leakey Cauldron flung open.

In walked in a woman, she had long brown hair with honey-blonde highlights added into her thick mane that had been styled into loose curls. Her face was stern and round, but was undeniably beautiful. Her eyebrows were perfectly shaped and her lips were plump and painted red, her long fluffy eyelashes fluttered above her green eyes. Her curvaceous body was wrapped in a beautiful and expensive looking black dress that fell perfectly in all the right places and a diamond choker made a perfect companion to the enormous diamond ring on her finger.

Ginny groaned "speaking of snakes"

"Is that Pansy Parkinson" said Hermione staring "I remember her looking a lot more…"

"Like a pug?" Finished Ginny "yeah thats how I remember her too. Unfortunately leaving Hogwarts and getting married seems to suit her doesn't it?"

"Who did she marry" asked Hermione as she watched the witch make herby inside

"Draco Malfoy" said Ginny

"I thought he married Astoria Greengrass?" Hermione said surprised

"No, after the war they got engaged, like so many of us did, but they never got married. Apparently it was quite a scandal but the details of what happened never got out to the press, all I know is that Astoria moved to America and not long after, Pansy and Malfoy got married" explained Ginny quietly as Pansy passed their table and made her way to the bar.

To both their surprise she sat next to Ron and raised her hand to get the bartenders attention who quickly brought her a glass of Elf-made wine.

"Reckon she's lost?" said Ginny looking incredulously at Pansy "who could she possibly be here to see?"

"Maybe she's here for a drink" said Hermione who noticed Ron look at the woman next to him and return back to his drink.

"Doubt it. Doesn't seem the kind of place you'd find her. Plus where's her husband?"

Hermione shrugged, she hadn't seen Draco since Hogwarts, she had read in the press that he had reformed, made many contributions to fix the damage that had been caused by the war and that he was working as a lawyer at the Ministry.

"I'm going to see what's going on" said Hermione

"What…No!" Said Ginny

"Relax Pansy will never recognise me, plus we're low on drinks" smiled Hermione and before Ginny could say another word she made her way to the bar and sat on a stool near Pansy. To get great surprise Pansy swivelled round and looked at her. Seemingly satisfied that she did not know the witch she turned back to face the bar. Hermione quickly asked for a ButterBeer and noticed to her even greater surprise that Pansy was talking, not to her, or the bartender but to Ron.

"You don't seem pleased to see me" the breathed

"What?" Said Ron loudly

"SHHHH" Pansy hissed "do you want people to start talking?"

"No one here matters, there's no one from the Prophet or anyone who knows me well enough to sell a stupid story of two people talking to each other" said Ron curtly

Pansy looked around again and Hermione quickly took a loud sip of her ButterBeer and acted like she was oblivious to the two people sat next to her.

She raised her eyebrow and looked at Ron "So what's gotten you in such a bad mood?"

"It's done" said Ron "finished"

"What is?" Said Pansy and catching sight of his left hand she gasped "No! You didn't"

"I didn't" said Ron "she did"

"Does she know who?" Pansy said quickly and Hermione had to strain herself to hear the rest of their conversation. Surely Ron hadn't confided in Pansy who he was seeing, the two had never seen eye-to-eye and much less gotten along. Maybe it was another Slytherin that Pansy had known at school, maybe it was another pure-blood that the Malfoy family might have in their entourage?

"No she ruddy doesn't know who I've been seeing" said Ron "she asked me and I didn't tell her. I should though, I owe her that at least. She was my wife"

"Don't be an idiot" spat Pansy and Hermione was surprised to see her het annoyed, almost angry "do you know what it could do if people knew?"

"Who effing cares" said Ron loudly "I'll always look bad, I always do! What's the bleeding difference, The Daily Prophet have been publishing stories about me for years. I'm the one who cheated on the smartest witch of her age or whatever they bloody call Hermione anymore"

"It doesn't mean you should be airing your dirty laundry in the press" hissed Pansy and before she could continue Ron said

"Yeah you and Draco know all about that" he slurred and turned to face her

"What" said Pansy taken aback

"Oh come on" laughed Ron "everyone knows something happened before you and Draco got married, something with Astoria that made her flee the country. You expect me to be like you two and your fucked-up marriage?"

"Don't you dare talk about my marriage" hissed Pansy

Hermione jumped as she felt something on the other side of her, Ginny had pulled up a stool next to Hermione and whispered,

"What's going on?"

Hermione hushed her and ordered another two ButterBeers for the two of them. Pansy turned again and looked at both of them and Ron said obnoxiously

"Oh for the love of Merlin leave the two lesbians alone Pansy"

Ginny was about to retort but Hermione gave her leg a swift kick. The remained silent and Pansy turned away from them and looked at Ron.

"You're a right mess" she said looking at him "guess the muggle-born leaving you must have hit you hard"

"At least I'm not in a marriage I don't want to be in anymore" said Ron downing the bottom of his drink and loudly asking the bartender for another.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Said Pansy

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Said Ron

"The woman you cheated on your wife with for years, the woman you said you loved last time we were in bed and I was…"

A glass smashed.

Without wanting to Hermione had made her glass explode. Everyone turned to stare at her and Ginny quickly diffused the situation by saying "Sorry everyone, she's a bit drunk please excuse my…"

"Pansy Parkinson?" Said Hermione looking at Ron dead in the eye "Pansy fucking Parkinson"

"Pansy Malfoy" said Pansy standing up at looking at Hermione "and who are you"

"No one" said Ginny, grabbing Hermione's hand "forget her, she's had a lot to drink" and before Hermione could do or say anything else she dragged Hermione out of the pub.

They got outside and the cold night-air hit them like a slap in the face. Hermione felt sick, and she had a feeling it had little to do with the alcohol.

"Pansy Parkinson" she whispered

"Hermione?" Said Ginny quietly

"He fell in love with Pansy" Hermione said in a choked voice "he fell in love with another woman whilst he was with me"

"I know 'Mione but"

"He hated her. He said she was a dog" said Hermione "and now he's doing god knows what with her"

"'Mione do you want me to go back in there and hex her?" Said Ginny looking at her.  
"No. I want to go home" said Hermione feeling suddenly very stupid "I want to go home" and tears started streaming down her eyes.

"Ok" said Ginny "just hold on" and Hermione felt them disparate and before she knew it they were down the street from where Hermione lived.

Once inside Hermione dropped her bag on her bed and without saying a word locked herself in the bathroom.

"'Mione?" Said Ginny softly

"I just need a moment" said Hermione amidst sobs "I just can't believe… Pansy…"

Hermione heard her leave the room and got up. She undid all the charms Ginny had done and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like herself again but her mascara had run all the way down her cheeks. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was blotchy. She turned on the tap and started scrubbing at her face and pulled her hair into a messy bun and looked at herself again. Her face was still blotchy and her eyes still red. She unlocked the door and found Ginny, also back to her normal appearance sat in her bed with two steaming mugs.

"Here, tea" said Ginny and Hermione took the mug gratefully and sat in the bed next to her. They both sipped at the tea in silence, not knowing what to say.

"Do you want to talk about it?" said Ginny gently

"Not yet" said Hermione truthfully.

"Ok" Ginny got up and rummaged in her bag pulling out a shirt and pyjama bottoms, the two witched changed into their pyjamas and Ginny handed Hermione a vial with a potion inside it.

"What's this?" Said Hermione

"Drink it" said Ginny "you need a long, dreamless sleep"

And without another word Hermione uncorked it and drained the potion lying back onto her bed and within minutes had fallen in a deep, dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello lovely readers,**_

 _ **Three chapters in one week - hope you're not sick of this story yet! The next chapter after this will have to wait until next week. I'm always so happy to read your reviews and hope you'll all leave more comments that I'll reply to in every chapter from now on at the end as to develop better communicate between you guys! What do you hope happens next? Any guesses?**_ __

 _ **Lots of Love,**_

 _ **Lumos Nox**_

The sunshine trickled in through the crack in the curtains, giving the room a golden glow to it. Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She felt thoroughly relaxed and rested. She saw the space in the bed next to her was empty - Ginny must have gotten up already. She rolled over, putting off the moment she would have to get out of her warm and comfortable duvet. Glancing at her alarm on her bedside table she saw to her surprise that it was past eleven-thirty. Groaning she got up and felt her head pounding, the had drank a lot the previous night.

Then, it all came back to her and flooded her with dread, anger and sadness. It was as if a dementor was in the room with her, sucking all the happiness and warmth from inside her. Feeling queasy, although she was not sure whether it was from the memory from the previous night or the alcohol, she got up and wrapped a fluffy white bathrobe around herself and made her way to the kitchen, her squinting as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.

To her surprise Ginny was in the kitchen, in a black tank-top and sweatpants her flaming red-hair in a messy bun as she bustled around making food.

"Good morning" she said brightly, pointing her wand towards a pan as she placed a steaming mug of tea in front of Hermione who took it and smiled at her gratefully as she took a sip and glanced over at the kitchen, Ginny had eggs and bacon cooking away and she popped toast into Hermione's toaster.

"You're making quite a feast" said Hermione who was use to either not eating breakfast because she was in a rush to get to work or if she had time had a quick yoghurt or banana.

"When you grow up at the Burrow" said Ginny "you pick up a few habits, and making big comfort meals is something mum specialises in" and she placed a plate in front of Hermione with eggs, bacon, mushroom, and toast. She grabbed the other plate and sat down across Hermione and glanced up at her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked buttering her toast

"Overwhelmed" said Hermione playing with the eggs on her plate "I can't believe what I said and heard yesterday. I'm waiting for someone to jump from behind a curtain and say it was all a big joke"

"I know" said Ginny quietly "of all the witches in the world he decides to throw away his marriage for her…"

"Do you reckon Draco knows?" Said Hermione forcing herself to take a bite of her toast.

"No" said Ginny "You heard her, she didn't want people to hear or for it to get out to the Daily Prophet. Obviously the King and Queen of snakes don't want to admit there's trouble in paradise"

"Maybe she doesn't want to lose Malfoy Manor, the title and all the gold that comes with it" said Hermione "I mean I hate Draco, so who cares what happens to him"

"Do you really think anyone deserves to be betrayed in that manner" said Ginny

"That snake certainly does" said Hermione "That's the only comfort I can find from this is that Ron is making Draco to look like an absolute moron"

"Well if it becomes serious I'd love to see Ronald attempt to bring Pansy Parkinson to the Burrow" snorted Ginny "I mean imagine mums reaction when she finds out that he left you for a girl who looked down on anyone who was less that pure-blood"

"She does look nice" said Hermione bitterly " a long way from that girl at Hogwarts who fawned over the Serpent of Slytherin and was called pug-face"

"The Serpent of Slytherin?" Sniggered Ginny

"I heard a group of girls gossiping about Draco at Hogwarts" explained Hermione "he had quite a reputation and apparently that was what girls referred to him as"

Ginny snorted and continued to shovel down her breakfast.

"He is a lawyer at the Ministry" said Hermione

"Yeah. So?" Said Ginny

"Maybe I should go pay him a visit. I mean I need to get the divorce papers and…"

"You cannot be serious" Ginny stared at her "What good will that do"

"He may have been an arrogant arse but he was always very smart" said Hermione "I'm sure he would be a good lawyer and would make sure everything was done thoroughly"

"Firstly" said Ginny "he despised you, what in the name of Merlin's pants makes you think that he would agree to take you on as a client and secondly you're suppose to trust and confide in you lawyer, is it worth confiding in Draco to make Pansy and Ron uncomfortable?"

"Yes" said Hermione

"Listen" a mischievous look spread across Ginny's face "you know their secret. And they don't know you know"

"That's stating the obvious" said Hermione patronisingly

"You don't understand" said Ginny impatiently "You know something they don't, so don't go running and telling Draco his wife is having an affair with your ex-husband, make them sweat, see how far they're willing to spin their web of lies"

Hermione thought about this. She had a point. If she revealed the truth straight away, all it would be would be a headline and like Ron had proved last night, he seemed indifferent to them after the years of bad press he'd had.

"I still think I should get Draco as my lawyer" she finally said "Not tell him, but it would definitely put them on edge to know I was getting close to the last person they would want to know about their little secret"

"Fair enough" Ginny conceded "but be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt"

"I couldn't possibly be more hurt than I already am. I feel like this pain has made me immune to anything else that life could throw at me"

"Just remember Draco isn't trustworthy" Ginny reminded her "you don't want to make yourself vulnerable to him"

"I've had years of experience not trusting Draco" Hermione said "plus if there's anyone Draco hates more than me, it's your brother"

Ginny flicked her wand and the table cleared itself, the plates, cutlery and mugs started cleaning themselves in a the sink.

"I think you need to relax" said Ginny "you've been through more than most people could handle"

"Do you think I should have hexed him?" Hermione asked her

"What?"

"Last night should I have just hexed the living day-lights out of them?"

"No" said Ginny "Even if you didn't want to hold this secret and mess with them, if you'd revealed yourself and hexed them what good would it have done? He'd known you were tailing him and the most you would have gotten is someone running off to the Prophet and by the sounds of things it seems like the Malfoy family know how to snuff a story out pretty well"

"You're right"

"I know I am"

Hermione got up and sank into her sofa, snuggling into her bathrobe

"You should go back home to Harry, you've been away long enough"

"Harry's fine without me" said Ginny "it's different times, men know how to take care of themselves now"

Hermione laugh "I don't know which men you know but Harry definitely isn't the best at taking care of himself, never known anyone get themselves into more trouble"

Ginny laughed and sat next to her placing her head on Hermione's shoulder. The two witches sat there in silence.

"I can stay if you need me to" Ginny said quietly

"I'll be fine" Hermione said earnestly "I need to get use to a bit of solitude, and honestly, I think I need it. I spent my whole life with someone, first with my parents, then surrounded by Hogwarts students constantly, and then a year undercover with Ron and Harry during the war. Then once the war was finally over I got married straight away. I've never been alone Ginny and I think I need to be for a bit. I think it'll be good for me to put myself first"

Ginny stood up "I don't know about the brightest witch of her age, but you're the bravest witch I know"

Hermione got up and hugged her best friend.

"I'm going to see Draco tomorrow, find out where his office is and explain to him that I'm in need of a lawyer for my divorce"

"How about we meet up for drinks one evening and you tell me how it went?" Suggested Ginny

"Sure, bring some girls along, could do with some girls nights now I'm about to become a divorcee"

They laughed and hugged each other again.

"If you need anything, anything at all you send me an owl or a patronus and I will be here before you know it" Ginny said "Promise you'll let me know"

"I will" promised Hermione earnestly "go home to your husband"

"Take care of yourself 'Mione" said Ginny

"I will"

"I love you"

"Love you too Gin"

Ginny grabbed her bag, hoisted it onto her shoulder and with a last smile at Hermione left.

Hermione locked the door behind her and made her way back to the sofa. The silence around her was deafening. There was a small noise and Hermione jumped. But it was only Crookshanks. He leapt up onto her lap and curled up. Pets were funny, although they couldn't communicate they seemed able to sense distress and despair amongst their owners.

"It's you and me against the world pretty boy" she said hugging him.

Crookshanks purred back affectionately.

She decided to keep herself occupied for the rest of the day. Firstly she ran herself a steaming hot bath with lavender oil. She got naked and hopped in, feeling the warm water envelope her body. It felt good, it felt safe. She lay back and relaxed. The smell soothing her.

Tomorrow she would talk to Draco Malfoy for the first time since the war. She couldn't help but feel nervous, apprehensive even. What would she say? How would he react? Would he simply call her a filthy mud blood and ask her to leave his office? What should she wear? Nothing too conservative, but nothing too provocative, she didn't want to give the wrong impression at work, especially not in front of Draco Malfoy.

She got carried away in her thoughts, and when she looked at the watch on her wrist she realised she'd been in the bath for over two-hours. She got out, dried, applied lotion all over herself and dried her hair. Wrapping herself in her fluffy gown she went back into the living room. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading books she'd purchased the day before, drinking warm cups of tea and lounging about. When evening fell she made herself a quick meal with what little ingredients she could find and went back into her bedroom.

Browsing through her clothes she found a new black pencil-skirt she'd bought with Ginny and a baby-blue shirt. Along with a black blazer, some flats and her hair in a bun she decided that would be her outfit for her meeting with Draco tomorrow. She wondered if he was any different. Had he reformed?

"Fat chance" she said under her breath as she hung her clothes out for tomorrow and slipped into bed.

She then noticed a little vial on her bedside table with a note on it

"I left an extra one for tonight. You'll need to be rested for tomorrow

Love Gin"

She smiled, uncorked the little bottle and drank it. Within minutes she was fast asleep with all thoughts of Ron, Pansy, and Draco out of her mind.

An alarm rang and Hermione opened her eyes.

It was still dark, a sure sign that autumn was ending and winter was approaching fast. She stretched and automatically made her way into the bathroom and turned the shower on and hopped in.

Fifteen minutes later she out with her hair dried, her work outfit on, pulling her hair into a tight bun. After putting on a bit of foundation, concealer, blush, eyeliner, mascara and finally lipstick she stood back to admire her handy-work.

"That'll do" she muttered and hurried into the kitchen making sure she had everything she needed in her bag before hurrying out the door. She grabbed a coffee as she for once had a bit of time to spare before work and proceeded to aparate outside the entry to the Ministry. Minutes later she was in. She made her way to her office.

"Morning" said Richard Perkins as he passed her "I hope you have my paper on…"

"I'll have it ready by the end of the day sir" said Hermione curtly and made her way to her desk where she sat and filed through all the papers that had been left. Their department had been busy with the Tri-Wizard Tournament; this was the first time it had been talked about since she had been at school and they wanted to reintroduce it, in a safe, controlled environment. Hermione wasn't sure if this was such a good idea but she was keen on better magical cooperation between the wizarding schools.

She set to work. Glancing at her watch every so often until it was finally time for lunch. She got up and picked up her bag.

"Going somewhere?"

Hermione jumped. It was Richard.

"I have a meeting but will be back soon" she said

He huffed and nodded. Hermione set off annoyed - she was entitled to do whatever she pleased at lunch, it was just that her boss had become so accustomed to her working through her lunch with her nose glued to her parchment that anything less than that, and he felt entitled to make her feel like she wasn't doing her job.

She made her way to the fourth floor. She'd never been but she knew that this was where wizarding lawyers hid away. Away from the rest of the hustle and bustle of the Ministry. A small plump blonde girl made her way towards Hermione.

"May I help you Mrs Weasley?"

"Could I please speak to Mr Malfoy please?" Said Hermione

"Is Mr Malfoy expecting you" she asked looking at the clipboard in her hand,

"No but I have a case that I would urgently like to discuss with him"

"I'm sorry Mrs Weasley but…"

"Please tell him it's urgent"

"Very well"

She strode off and Hermione waited. Hermione half expected her to come back saying that he wouldn't see her but minutes later she came back saying,

"Right this way Mrs Weasley" and led her to a door with the name on it. "Mr Malfoy will now see you"

Her heart pounding in her chest, her hands sweating she balled them into a fist a knocked on the door. A voice she recognised from years ago called out.

"Come in Miss Granger" and Hermione stepped in.

There was no turning back now.

 _ **Replies:**_

 _ **midnightmagic007: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you like the twist and that you don't find it predictable! Hopefully you'll enjoy the following chapters!**_

 _ **Guest: I was going to have them reveal themselves but this way Hermione can keep them on their toes and see how far Ron can spin his web of lies.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello… again! :)**_

 _ **I sat down tonight and wrote another chapter to When Two Hearts Collide. I wanted to warn readers that this chapter is a bit darker and has mentions of substance abuse and domestic abuse. So please take that into consideration before reading.**_

 _ **I hope that you are enjoying the journey. Please do let me know what you think of the character, the story line and of course - what you think happens next!**_

 _ **Lots of love**_

 _ **Lumos Nox**_

Hermione stepped into a large office, it was spacious and luminous, intricate objects adorned the shelves and a large mahogany desk was in the centre of it. Behind it stood a tall man with elegant white-blonde hair that was combed to perfection. His suit was pristine, black, perfectly fitting and a crisp white shirt underneath it. Hermione finally looked up into the stormy-grey eyes she recognised so well from her years at Hogwarts. Her stomach lurched and she began to wonder why on earth she was here.

"Miss Granger" said Draco Malfoy as he stepped from behind his desk and held out his hand.

Hermione said quietly "Malfoy" and quickly shook his hand.

"Please, take a seat" He said stepping back behind his desk and sitting down "I cant pretend that I a not surprised to see you here, but Meredith said it was an urgent manner. I suppose Richard…"

"This has nothing to do with my job" said Hermione sharply and started fiddling with her hands, regretting her decision of coming here more by the minute.

"Very well… How may I help you Miss Granger?" He said leaning back in his chair, his grey eyes observing her curiously.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked forgetting for a moment who she was talking to.

"Pardon?" He looked taken aback.

"Granger, no one calls me Granger anymore" she explained

"Ah" he said "My mistake, Mrs Weasley, I guess some habits from school die hard"

"Like being a condescending pure-blood arsehole?" Said Hermione and suddenly blushed a shade of deepest scarlet.

Draco didn't respond straight away. He looked at her, his face not showing any emotions. Slowly he leaned forward placing his arms on his desk and looking at her dead in the eye.

"Mrs Weasley" he said, his voice becoming the drawl that she was so accustomed to "I assure you that any ideologies I had whilst at school, were nothing but that, a foolish childhood ideology instilled in me by my parents. Not that I owe you anything but I am sure you're very aware, having a husband who is an auror, that I have paid my dues, and reformed and am a completely different man"

Hermione felt like she had been slapped across the face. She sat there in silence as Draco continued,

"Now. I believe you came into my office, asking for my help. Or did you just want to come in here to insult me and continue an adolescent argument we had many years ago?"

"No" she said

"Very well Mrs Weasley" Draco leaned back into his chair again and said "what can I help you with?"

Hermione didn't know what to say, something caught her eye on the corner of Draco's desk. A beautiful silver frame with two engraved serpents with emerald eyes held a wedding picture, there stood Draco, in immaculate dress-robes and a smirk on his face, next to him stood Pansy Parkinson, her dress was extravagant and she reminded Hermione of a pastry. In the moving image Pansy's face was stern and serious; not the image of married bliss you'd have pictured.

"Mrs Weasley?" Draco repeated

"Yes?" Hermione tore her eyes away from the picture, Pansy's face had caused the boiling anger in her insides to return "I need you to help me with a personal matter".

"Personal?" Said Draco his eyes narrowing

"Divorce" the word sounded harsh, final, a bit like death.

"Divorce?" Repeated Draco his eyes wide in disbelief "your divorce?"

"Yes" said Hermione

"May I ask you something?"

"Yes"

"Why have you come to seek my help? Surely you have connections amongst the other lawyers of the Ministry of Magic, some you may well consider friends. It is no secret you and I have never seen eye-to-eye so I can't help but ask you, why me?"

Hermione considered his words. She couldn't tell him the truth, that would defeat the purpose of her coming to him in the first-place. She would have to quickly improvise and say the first thing that occurred to her.

"Exactly for that very reason" she started "I do have connections and friends at the Ministry you're very right, but many of those friends are my ex-husband's friends as well, I do not feel comfortable having one of Ronald's friends deal with my divorce as I don't believe they would have my best interests at heart. The others, I do not trust, I know many would sell my story to the Daily Prophet for a handful of galleons and I am not prepared to have my relationship plastered across the headlines quite yet. I don't like. I will not pretend to, but I believe you are professional, and I believe you are very discreet in handling matters"

There was a long silence. Draco was observing her, as if trying to detect a trace of a lie in her words. Finally, as if he was finally satisfied that she was telling the truth her straightened up.

"I don't know if you are telling the truth, I do not know if this is just a way to annoy you former-husband by getting the person he may well hate the most in the world to represent you. There is no way for me to know that. But you do realise you will have to talk to me, to confide in me even the most intimate details of your relationship and trust that whatever I do, I have your best interests in mind"

"Why on earth should I confide intimate details of my relationship?!" Said Hermione completely astounded at this.

"Believe me I have very little interest in your person life, however Wizarding law is different to Muggle law which I suppose is what you are comparing to" and when Hermione didn't answer he carried on "I must admit the Wizarding law surrounding marriage is terribly backwards and outdated. There must be proof of wrong-doing on behalf of one of the partners in order to draw out divorce papers that will be signed by both parties"

"What if we just fell out of love?" Asked Hermione

"Then I must urge you, by law, to give this marriage another shot and attempt to rekindle your love" said Draco

"What a load of dragon dung!" Said Hermione angrily

"I agree" said Draco "however I cannot change the law. You now understand that in order for me to represent you I will need to know what exactly happened between you and your husband and why this marriage is deemed unfit to continue"

"So what is considered grounds for a divorce then?" Asked Hermione testily

"Infidelity, domestic abuse, theft, emotional abuse…" Draco started listed off "you get the gist of it"

"What about if your husband became a raging alcoholic?" Said Hermione and Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Yes that would very well be grounds for divorce as it could be a danger to you but I would need a MediWitch from St Mungo's to confirm that there is a substance problem" and Hermione snorted at this

"Do you think I will be able to convince someone who hates me to go to St Mungo's to prove he's got a substance abuse?! It could affect his career and no matter how I feel about him and our marriage ending I do not want on record that he has a problem with alcohol"

"Understandable" Draco nodded curtly "has his alcohol abuse led to infidelity?"

"Take it you read the Daily Prophet" she said disgustedly

"Actually I don't" said Draco "I don't believe a word that rag says and if I were to represent you I guarantee your personal affairs would not be published"

"And how could you guarantee that" asked Hermione

"I have my ways" said Draco and before Hermione had time to respond he looked at an expensive-looking watch on his wrist and said "Not that I want to cut this meeting short but I believe you have some decisions to make and a lot to think about. You have to decide whether you are willing to confide your relationship history with me and on what grounds you are hoping to file for divorce. If and when you come to a conclusion you know where to find me"

He rose from his desk and Hermione did the same.

"Good day Miss Granger"

"Good day Malfoy"

And she exited the room, glancing back one last time to see Draco sitting back at his desk and leaning back in his chair, looking pensive. As she made her way back to her desk she couldn't help but think how polite and professional Draco had been, she had expected him to be childish, arrogant and hateful, not helpful, and even almost charming. She gagged at the last word. Draco may be professional in a work environment but he was not to be trusted. She knew that he wouldn't hesitate to hex her into oblivion if given the chance.

The rest of the day went by slowly, Hermione finished the paper that she had promised Richard and spent the rest of the day going over the conversation she had had with Draco Malfoy. As much as she wanted to see how far Ron was willing to spin his web of lies, she also wanted her freedom from this failed marriage. She knew that the reason for the failure of her marriage was the ongoing infidelity, but she assumed that if she filed for divorce because of infidelity she would have to confide how she knew and tell her lawyer who the person with whom her husband was being unfaithful with was. She grabbed a piece of parchment and dipped her quill in ink before scribbling

"Hi Gin,

Just had meeting with lawyer.  
How about we discuss it all over girls night on Friday?

Lots of Love

Hermione"

She rolled up the scroll and placed it in her bag, it was finally time to go home, she borrowed a work owl from the ministry and posted her letter and made her way back to her apartment, stopping by the local Chinese restaurant to pick up some dinner. She made a mental note that she would have got get round to filling up her fridge soon as she settled into her sofa and dug into her chicken noodles and glass of red wine.

The rest of the week was relatively uneventful, on Thursday whilst walking through the auditorium she had caught sight of Ron who looked dishevelled and exhausted. They had made eye-contact for about two-seconds before walking in opposite directions without muttering a word to each other. She wondered if he had gotten in contact with a lawyer for a divorce, then again on what grounds could he file a divorce?

The rest of the day and the next was a blur. It wasn't until Friday evening that Hermione felt a bit of excitement at the prospect of seeing her best friend. She dressed in a long black jumpsuit that had a bit more of a plunging neckline than what Hermione was use to. She straightened her hair and applied a ruby red lipstick.

When she pushed open the door of the Leakey Cauldron she immediately caught sight of Ginny who was sat at the same table that they had been sat at the last time. Hermione stopped by the bar ordering two glasses of elf-made wine and made her way to the table.

"You look stunning" said Ginny smiling at her "so glad to see you taking care of yourself"

"Thanks" said Hermione grinning

"So how did Monday go?" Asked Ginny taking a sip of wine.

"The only word I can find to describe it is bizarre" said Hermione honestly "I went into his office expecting to see the arrogant prat that I knew at school, yet he was polite and charming"

"Well he isn't a teenager anymore" reasoned Ginny "plus I read a few years back in the Prophet that his father and mother had moved away from England to live in the South of France and there were rumours of them disinheriting Draco in the process"

"I never heard that" said Hermione furrowing her brow

"When's the last time you read the Daily Prophet?"

"That's a good point" Hermione laughed.

"So what did he say then" enquired Ginny curiously

"He was actually really professional about it all" said Hermione truthfully "the problem is that I'll have to confide in him"

"To what extent" Ginny's eyes had become slits

"It would be pretty personal" admitted Hermione bitterly " apparently I need to file that Ron did something wrong and it has to be strong enough grounds for them to file divorce papers that we both need to agree upon and sign"

"So just say he was unfaithful" said Ginny as if it was obvious.

"But what if he asks me who" said Hermione "Gin he has his wedding picture on his desk, how am I suppose to walk in and tell him 'Oh sorry I've come to file for divorce because my husband was sleeping with your wife'"

"Say you don't know who it was, say he was absent, which he was, and that you found proof that he had been unfaithful, which you did. But that you just don't know who it was. Remember when we were out that night we were unrecognisable - no one but you and me know that we were in the same place and Pansy and Ron that night"

Hermione mulled this over.

"I suppose you're right"

"I know I am"

"It's just hard to not see Draco as anything else then a condescending, horrible piece of trash" said Hermione

"I get it, I still think of him as a prat as well, but sometimes people deserve a second chance in life. It does neither you nor him any good to dwell upon the past. So why not try trusting him until he gives you a reason to think any different."

"Ok. I'll try"

"Good" said Ginny finishing off her glass and smacking her lips " you can start by sending an owl to his house saying you would like to continue the discussion on Monday, that'll be sure to make Pansy feel uncomfortable"

Hermione laughed "you're a wicked witch Ginevra"

She winked and got up to get another drink just as she reached the bar, her brother came stumbling through the door and made his way to the bar.

"What the ruddy hell are you doing here alone?" He slurred at her

"Charming Ronald" she grimaced "firstly, I owe you no explanation as we are no longer children and I think I'm proving to be the more mature one of us two, and secondly I'm not alone, I'm having a drink with a friend"

Ron's head swivelled around and he caught sight of Hermione, he groaned "Fuckin' fantastic"

"We were here first so if you don't want to be in the same space as us you can kindly sod off and fine somewhere else to go drink" Ginny spanned at him

"Is there a problem?" Hermione had gotten up and joined them at the bar, purposefully avoiding Ron's gaze.

"Yeah. You're here" said Ron rounding on her and looking at her with his blood-shot eyes.

"What have I done to you?" Hermione said fiercely

Ron laughed and people turned around to stare at them

"What have you?" He continued laughing "the problem is you did nothing! You were a terrible wife!"

"Ron shut up or I swear I will hex you into oblivion" warned Ginny who made to stand between them but Hermione pushed her out the way.

"Oh and I suppose you think you deserve husband-of-the-year award?" Smirked Hermione

"What's that suppose to mean" and squared up to Hermione ignoring his sister who was still trying to make her way between them.

"Hmmm let me think" mocked Hermione "how many witched did you screw behind my back? Only the ones who's lipstick I had to clean of your shirts or were there more?"

"Don't you dare you absolute"

"Absolute what Ronald?!"

To her shock he raised his hand at her but before either of them could move Ginny yelled

"Expelliarmus!" Which hit Ron in the chest and he crumpled to the floor. People started crowding around them and whispering amongst each other.

"Ginny" hissed Hermione "what did you do?!"

"Stopping Ron from making the biggest mistake of his life and you two making the headline of the ruddy Daily Prophet" she snapped staring at her brother. She rounded on the crowd and said loudly "and if a word of this gets out I will make it my life mission to find out which one of you was responsible and hex you tenfold worse than this moron"

"Ginny!" Gasped Hermione

Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and led her out of the bar.

"Ginny!" Hermione repeated again "what on earth possessed you?!"

Ginny stopped walking and turned around looking at her best friend in disbelief "Do you really think I was going to stand there and watch him either hex, or worse hit you!?" She hollered at Hermione "I'm sorry but I protected both of you back there but you're acting like I was irrational!"

"Ron wouldn't have…" started Hermione

"Are you really that stupid Hermione" Ginny raised her hands in disbelief and let out a mirthless laugh "haven't you caught on yet? That man back there isn't the man you married, he's not ok and he's capable of anything because it seems he's unable to spend a single day sober! You act like you're the only one suffering, but Ron has lost himself and everyday I'm realising I'm losing another brother! As if it wasn't enough losing Fred but now… Now I feel like I'm losing Ron too!"

As the words came tumbling out of her mouth tears started streaming down her face and she started sobbing uncontrollably. It was the first time Hermione has every seen Ginny in such a state.

"Oh Gin" Hermione said wrapping her arms around Ginny "I'm so sorry. I didn't think. Of course this is terrible for you!"

"I'm fine" she huffed, straightening herself up and composing herself "I just want to get back to my husband Hermione, I'm sorry I'm tired."

"Of course, thats fine" she said "Ginny, I'm here for you too you know that"

"Then do me a favour" said Ginny wrapping a scarf around her neck

"Anything" said Hermione

"Go back to Draco on Monday and do whatever it takes to file that damn divorce before either of you get hurt"  
And before Hermione could respond the witch turned on her heel and disaparated.

 _ **Replies:**_

 _ **Riaroo400: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you like Draco being a lawyer - I think the position suits him quite well!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello readers!**

 **I am sorry for the long absence but have been abroad and dealing with personal issues - I know I've been absent before but hoping that from now on I'll be posting a lot more regularly. As always any reviews and comments mean the absolute world to me - I love communicating with you guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Lots of love.**

 **Lumos Nox**

The next morning Hermione got up and sat on her sofa with her cup of tea in complete silence. Last night had been a whirlwind of emotions and she was still trying to process what the best course of action.

Ever since she had been a young girl, Hermione had always been a highly practical and logical individual. She believed that if everything was organised and looked at logically, a solution would appear. The problem was that when it came to matters of the heart, logic and love weren't synonymous. She knew that deep in her heart she would always love Ronald Weasley, maybe it wouldn't be in a romantic way, but they had spent too much of their life together to forget about him and resent him completely.

Was she hurt by his betrayal? Of course she was, there was no denying that. But it hurt her more seeing him so angry and resentful towards her, as if she had purposefully ruined his life when in reality she had wanted nothing but the best for him. He may not have realised it but she hadn't stayed in the relationship to punish him or trap him, she had stayed because she had wanted to help, but the lack of communication had made that impossible and had lead them to this point.

She sighed and put the mug down on the glass coffee table and cradled her head in her hands. The image that haunted her the most from last night was that of Ginny being completely distraught. She had known her since her second-year at Hogwarts, she had at first only been Ron's little sister who was in love with Harry, but now, now she was her closest friend and more like a sister than anything else.

As Hermione had watched Ginny grow she had realised what a strong, fierce woman she was and had always admired that about her. The truth was, when you were use to seeing someone happy and strong, you forgot that they could also be hurt and vulnerable. And yesterday, Ginny had seemed anything but strong.

Hermione had seen first-hand how much pain the Weasley's had been through. She had been there at Fred's funeral, amidst the Weasley family, as one of their own. She had shared their pain and saw how they had pulled together.

But Ron hadn't really gotten over it all, thought Hermione sadly as she made her way to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He had never surpassed the loss of Fred and then shortly after that Percy running away to America.

She quickly showered, dressed in a simple white shirt and jeans and slipped on a pair of plain black flats. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't feel good about it, in fact she felt nervous and scared of what may come as a result of her actions. But she had to. She owed it to the family that she had been a part of and who had welcomed her as one of their own. She owed it to her best friend.

Grabbing a brown leather jacket and her bag, she went out the door and found a quiet street. Making sure no muggles were in the surrounding area she turned on her heel and thought of the Burrow.

Her feet touched solid ground and she opened her eyes. There in front of her was a sight that was so familiar to her that she was torn between relief and anxiety. The crooked house with several chimneys perched on top was there in front of her, with chickens scattered in the front garden, and amidst them stood Molly Weasley

"Hermione dear?" She called out, dropping the chicken feed and making her way towards the front gate of the Burrow.

"Hello Mrs Weasley" said Hermione making her way forward and smiling warmly at her former mother-in-law.

"How many times must I insist on you calling me Molly" she sternly. She paused and looked at her scrutinisingly before wrapping her arms around her and embracing her, hard.

"How are you?" Asked Hermione, her voice muffled by Molly Weasley's hug.

"Oh don't worry about me dear, I'm fine. Just fine" she said quickly "how are you? Do you have time for some tea and a catch up?"

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to Ronald" said Hermione nervously glancing up towards the top floor of The Burrow where she knew Ron's bedroom was located.

"Oh" said Mrs Weasley her face dropping "well I'm not going to lie to you dear, he isn't well and right now he's asleep because I managed to make him take a potion to get some rest. You're more than welcome to wait for him to wake with me"

but before Hermione had a chance to answer she added

"unless of course you'd rather I send you an owl or patronus telling you he's woken up."

"No" said Hermione smiling "I'd love to catch up with you Molly. It's been too long"

Mrs Weasley's face lit up and she beamed happily.

"Fantastic. Why don't you head into the living room and I'll make a nice pot of tea!"

The two women made their way into the house and Hermione proceeded into the living room as Mrs Weasley fussed over the kettle and summoned two mugs. The living room was exactly as Hermione remembered it from the many evenings that she had spent at The Burrow. Everything seemed the same, yet nothing was the same anymore.

Moments later Mrs Weasley entered the living room holding a tray with two steaming mugs of tea , a teapot and an assortment of biscuits on it. For a moment they sat in silence sipping absentmindedly at their tea. Hermione noticed that Mrs Weasley had changed. Once a woman who was so full of joy and life, she now seemed sad, she had visibly lost weight and looked dishevelled.

" … I mean Molly" Hermione corrected herself quickly "are you quite sure that you're ok?"

Mrs Weasley didn't answer her at once, she stared at the fireplace in which a roaring fire was crackling away and she stirred her tea.

"Things have been difficult dear" she said finally "but we've been coping"

"Do you mean things have been difficult with Ron?" Hermione pressed on gently and Mrs Weasley looked up and observed her curiously.

"I know you two… The marriage… It's over" she said "but I don't know why. Every time I try to talk to Ron about it he gets angry and storms out and I don't see him until the next morning when he stumbles in looking a right mess"

Hermione didn't answer. She didn't know what to say to that.

"If I just knew what had happened" said Mrs Weasley imploringly "then maybe I could help him recover. But I cant keep seeing him like this"

"I can't tell you" said Hermione her heart breaking as she saw Mrs Weasley's face fall "I'm sorry I wish I could but it's not my place to tell you. He would never forgive me if I did and honestly, I haven't quite come to terms with it all either"

"Well" said Mrs Weasley her tone suddenly a lot more stern "you seem to be coping much better than Ron is by any means"

"That doesn't mean I don't care" said Hermione putting down her mug and frowning "just because I don't go out and drink myself into oblivion and come back in the early hours of the morning doesn't mean I'm not hurting as well. If there had been any chance of me saving this marriage and him, then believe me I would have. But there wasn't Mrs Weasley, and I understand if you blame me for it, but that doesn't stop me from caring about Ron"

Then there was silence and the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire.

And then after a few minutes…

"I'm sorry" said Mrs Weasley in a hoarse voice "I know you care dear. It's just Arthur and I don't know how to get through to him anymore. No one seems to be able to. I just know he's hurting and one day you'll realise that not being able to diminish your child's pain is the most heart-breaking thing you'll ever experience"

"I came here to help" said Hermione earnestly leaning forward and taking Mrs Weasley's hand and giving it a tight squeeze "I am going to get through to him whether he likes it or not. Even if we're not together I'm not giving up on him"

Mrs Weasley smiled and quickly wiped away the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Thank you dear. I just wish it hadn't come to this. Is there no way you two could…?" Her voice trailed off and she lowered her gaze into the fireplace again.

"I'm sorry but there's not" said Hermione quietly "and it'll be for the best for both of us once we let go of the demons that are haunting our lives. Ron deserves to be happy and with me he wasn't. But he will be happy again."

The stairs creaked and the two women suddenly fell silent and their eyes fell upon the corridor were a tall thin outline appeared.

"Who's there? Is it Ginny?" It was Ron's voice and it sounded drowsy. Like he had just woken from a deep sleep and hadn't fully awoken yet.

"No dear" said Mrs Weasley gently getting up and moving towards him "it's Hermione, she wants to talk to you"

"I don't want to speak to her" he said gruffly and turned and made his way into the kitchen

"Ronald" said Mrs Weasley imploringly "you won't speak to me or your father, or your brothers or your sister. At least talk to someone who isn't family. Please do it for me. I don't know what to do" and then she suddenly started crying and Hermione could see the outline of shock on Ron's face as he stood frozen to the spot, too in disbelief to know what to do.

Hermione strode over and hugged Mrs Weasley who's sobs grew louder. She looked at Ron and said "Please give me fifteen minutes of your time. If you never want to see me again after that, I understand, but we need to talk"

"Fine" he said and walked outside.

"I'll be back after I've spoke to him" Hermione said to Mrs Weasley patting her on the back

"Thank you" she hiccuped "thank you for trying to help him"

"You might want to wait before thanking me" said Hermione grimly and she made her way outside where she saw Ron perched on the fence at the entrance of The Burrow.

"Did she send you to talk to me?" Asked Ron as Hermione walked up to him and sat next to him

"No" she said "I came because I can't stand the thought of yesterday being our last conversation and leaving it all on those terms"

Ron snorted "Yeah I'm sure you really care about me"

"Why wouldn't I?' she asked

"Because I wasn't faithful to our relationship. Because I fucked it all up. Because I hurt you" said Ron and it was the first time in a long time that she could tell he was being sincere with her.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you" she said "You did hurt me, but we weren't happy and it was both of our mistakes for not calling it off before it got that bad"

"I didn't want to" he said "I wanted to believe it would be different. That it would be like before the end of the war. But I couldn't do it and sometimes I still can't"  
"What do you mean?" She asked looking at him

"I wake up sometimes and I can't cope with how meaningless my life is. How empty and heavy it's become. I thought after the war everything would become light and happy, but it hasn't. I didn't care if I hurt you because I didn't care who I hurt, I just wanted to feel something other than emptiness"

"Then it's time for a clean start" said Hermione "It's time for you to start over and move on from everything"

"And how exactly am I suppose to do that?" Snapped Ron turning to glare at her "you didn't have to bury your brother and watch his twin crumble and become a ghost of his former self, you didn't have to watch your other brother run away to the other side of the globe because he was too cowardly to deal with it all"

His voice and temper was rising and his face was growing red, and Hermione could feel a bubbling anger start to rise in her stomach.

"Oh and it was a walk in the park for me wasn't it?" Hermione's voice was trembling with rage as she glared at him "Obliviating both my parents minds, sending them to Australia, and since I found them and reversed the spell they have resented me ever since, I didn't see my friends die in front of my eyes and buried people I loved and considered family. I forgot YOU were the only one who suffered"

She jumped down from the fence and turned around to face him, glaring ferociously, as if daring him to say another word. Ron looked down at her, pale as a ghost.

"I didn't know…"

"How could you have?!" Yelled Hermione "you've been so preoccupied with yourself you never once took a second to stop and look around and ask me how it had all affected me, but I understood and I tried to help you, and all I wanted was for you to try, not to let yourself become this person!"

"And who would that be?!" His eyes narrowed

"This pathetic excuse of a man, who drinks his life away, who doesn't have to courage to tell me who you left me for, the man who won't even try to make an effort for his own family" Hermione bellowed "haven't your family lost enough? Haven't they suffered enough? Why are you so damn selfish Ron, why can't you try for them?!"

"Don't you dare talk about my family!" Ron bellowed back standing up and facing her

"Why not!?" Hermione screamed "they use to be my family too remember?! Am I just suppose to sit back and watch you hurt them all and not say a damn thing?! No one has the heart to tell you to the truth but I do, and you're an embarrassment and a coward, you didn't ever belong in Gryffindor is this is who you are"

Ron raised his wand but before he had the chance to utter a word,

"Expelliarmus!"

His wand was sent spinning and fell right into Mrs Weasley's outstretched hand.

"Ronald Weasley" she growled as she made her way towards them

"Give it back. NOW" Ron rounded on his mother

"Don't you speak to me like that" she warned him

"Oh fuck off!" He yelled "who's bloody side are you on?!"

"Ron it isn't about choosing sides, it's about helping you" said Hermione trying to place a hand on his shoulder but he pushed it off and glared at her, his usually kind eyes were filled with rage and hatred.

"You happy finally" he growled "you did this. You came to MY house. Turned MY family against me and as always you come out looking like little miss perfect. Well guess what; you aren't. You ruined our marriage and pushed me into the arms of another woman and this woman actually loves me and knows how to be a partner, unlike you, you miserable fucking hag"

Ron's wand fell to the ground.

Mrs Weasley was staring at him, her mouth hanging open an expression of shock and horror on her face. Then SLAP.

Mrs Weasley had slapped Ron so hard it echoed around the garden and his face was burning red.

"You'll regret that" he muttered as he scooped his wand from the floor and turned around.

"Don't you dare threaten your mother Ronald!" Hermione said raising her wand and pointing it straight at him "you want to hate me, fine. You want to say all those horrible things, I'm strong enough to hear them. But don't for a second hurt those who have done nothing but love you, you ungrateful little…"

but before she could finish her sentence Ron had turned on the spot making an obscene hand gesture at her and the next second he had disappeared.

Hermione turned around and looked at Mrs Weasley who was still rooted to the spot, silent tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Molly lets get you inside" she said and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, and without another word the two witches retreated back into the Burrow, Hermione glanced back to look at the spot where Ron had disappeared moments before and her heart sank at the thought of everything he had said.

They entered the living room in complete silence and Mrs Weasley sank into an armchair and put her head in her hands. Hermione quickly levitated the tray with the mugs and the tea pot and busied herself in the kitchen. Moments later she returned and placed a steaming hot mug into Mrs Weasley's hand. She looked up and smiled at her weakly.

"Thank you dear" she croaked.

"Molly… I'm sorry you had to witness that" said Hermione earnestly

"Is it true?" Mrs Weasley asked looking up at her

"Is what true?"

"Was he unfaithful?" She asked

"Yes" she said "but I didn't want you to know. I didn't want anyone to know."

"I'm sorry" said Mrs Weasley standing up and pacing up and down the living room "I'm sorry my son, who I thought I had raised to be a loyal, good man, hurt you"

"It's not you fault" said Hermione quickly "and it's not his either, he wasn't happy and as a couple we should have ended it before it got that bad. Honestly Mrs Weasley there's no resent…"

"Then you don't love him" she said curtly, continuing to pace.

"Excuse me?" Said Hermione shocked

"If someone you love is unfaithful to you and you don't resent them, how can you claim you loved them?"

Hermione thought deeply before answering "Because I did resent him when I found out, when I realised he may love another woman more than me it broke my heart, and I did the screaming, and shouting, and crying. But now, I've taken a step back and realised why it happened, and if Ronald was that unhappy and in that much pain, he had a right to leave our marriage. Yes, he did it in the wrong way and hurt me in the process, but he did what was best for him, and I accept that."

Mrs Weasley looked at her thoughtfully and sighed.

"I'm sorry dear. It's just difficult for me to understand all this. Ronald has never spoken to me about any problems and has always been very private about your marriage which I thought was normal. If I had had any idea, I could have spoken to him, I could have done something to help…" she broke off and stared off out the window.

"I don't think anyone could have helped us" said Hermione softly, patting her arm. She looked at the watch on her wrist and said "I should get going Molly unless there's anything else I can do?"

Mrs Weasley looked up and smiled "no dear, but thank you"

Hermione gave her a big hug and made her way to the front door and just as she was about to leave Mrs Weasley appeared in the door way.

"Hermione dear" she called

"Yes?" She said turning around

"Just remember that to us, you'll always be family"

And with tears streaming down her face Hermione made her way through the garden and turned on the spot.

Replies:

BratGirl1983: Hope you like the update and continue reading :)

ForsakenKalika: Thank you for your review. I just want to give you a big hug! I am so glad you like this story and that you've understood and related to it so deeply. My writing stems from personal experience too and for it to be relatable means the world to me. It means everything to me and hope you enjoy the following chapters and the story overall.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again!**

 **I felt really inspired today and sat down and wrote another chapter and thought I'd publish it instead of keeping it to myself. Hope this mades up for my absence lately! This chapter takes a few twists and turns and I hope to hear your opinions on it! As always, I appreciate all of your comments, reviews and follows. It really does mean the world to me and keeps this story alive.**

 **Lots of love**

 **Lumos Nox**

The world stopped spinning and her feet met solid ground with a violent jolt, causing her to stumble forward into an empty leaned with her back against a the wall and tried to calm her breathing and she continued to sob quietly.

This wasn't how her life was suppose to go, she had always strived to lead a calm, organised life and did her best to avoid drama and trouble, but for some reason drama and trouble always had a way of finding her. She had given everything to the people she loved, whether they were family, friends or her partner, and in return she now felt completely alone and broken.

She wiped her tears away on her sleeve and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

In.

And out.

In.

And out.

She opened her eyes again and started walking aimlessly. She knew she didn't want to go home, there was only silence there and it would end up with her being alone with her thoughts and that always ended up with her anxiety playing up and her trying to calm herself through panic attacks. She would pass on that. She wanted to be around strangers, people who wouldn't ask her about her failed marriage and her drunk former husband.

She continued to walk, heading towards the wizarding part of London. She didn't have the energy to perform glamour charms or change her appearance, in fact she didn't care.

"Let them try" she thought angrily "let them try to start asking me questions, they'd get what they deserved"

And without a second thought she pushed open the door to the Leakey Cauldron and slipped in. It was early evening but there was already quite a crowd of witches and wizards in the small establishment and the sound of chatter filled the air.

She made her way to the bar and a familiar face greeted her.

"Hermione Granger?"

"Hi Hannah…" said Hermione forcing a smile and looking up.

Hannah had aged beautifully, having been a pink-faced girl who constantly wore pigtails and never gave much thought to he appearance she now stood tall, pale and her blond hair cascaded all the way down to her lower back. Her blue eyes gleamed brightly but there was a certain sadness to them that Hermione knew too well was due to her failed relationship with Neville.

"How you been keeping up?" Said Hannah pushing a glass of Ogden's Firewhisky towards Hermione and serving herself one as well.

"You don't have to talk to me" said Hermione quickly "I'm sure you're already very busy and…"

"Hermione please" said Hannah "do you know how many times I've been cornered by people and asked intimate questions about my failed marriage? About why the leader of Dumbledore's Army left me? All these rumours one more revolting than the other?"

Hermione sat there quietly. She didn't know what to say but she knew only too well what Hannah had gone through.

"No one stopped to ask me how I was" continued Hannah taking a gulp of Firewhisky "so I'm going to ask you, how are you Hermione?"

"I'm sorry" said Hermione "I didn't know what had happened until a few days ago or else I would have reached out"

"How would you know" snorted Hannah smiling "the only way you would have found out was if you wasted your time reading those 'wizarding celebrity publications' I know you wouldn't waste your time on those"

Hermione smiled gratefully.

"So how are you" asked Hannah again and this time Hermione knew she couldn't deflect the question a third time.

"I'm exhausted" she answered truthfully "I have spent the last days trying to patch up everything but it seems the more I try, the worse it gets."

"I get it" said Hannah "the truth is sometimes you can't patch everything up straight away. You need to let it all blow up before you start rebuilding. Trust me, it's hard watching your whole world crumble around you as you stand there helpless, but you grow from it and you realise that what you thought was your whole world was just a tiny piece of your life placed there to make you stronger."

"That's a very profound way of looking at it" said Hermione

"Well you would have asked me a few months ago and I would have told you it's not worth trying because life is a pile of dragon dung" she said laughing "but once you get through the worst and realise you're still there, you feel pretty indestructible"

"It seems like you're doing well then" Hermione smiled looking at Hannah

"I'm getting there slowly, truth is I've been studying to become a healer"

"What!? That's incredible Hannah"

"Yeah" she said smiling proudly "The truth is there was a point where I felt like my life was a bit meaningless, I mean working here is fun and all, but it isn't fulfilling. I didn't want to spend my time helping the drunk get drunker, breaking up bar brawls and cleaning up vomit. I wanted to give back and help people - so I decided to become a healer"

"Wow" Hermione was speechless

"Neville and I weren't made to be" she continued "It wasn't his fault or mine, we both wanted different things and we couldn't make each other happy. I wanted a career I could invest my time and energy into and he wanted a family and a wife who would care for them all, and that just wasn't me"

"You didn't have to tell me that" Hermione said quietly

"I know. But I wanted to, because you're one of the only people apart from Ginny and Pansy who have taken the time to ask me about me and my life"

"You're friends with Pansy?!" Said Hermione shocked.

"I know, how could a Hufflepuff be friends with a Slytherin right" said Hannah laughing "but the truth is she's changed a lot and is seriously misunderstood"

"I wouldn't exactly use the word misunderstood to describe Pansy Parkinson" said Hermione darkly " two-faced snake might be the words I would use"

Hannah observed her thoughtfully and she took a sip of her drink and sighed.

"You know don't you?"

"Know what?" Said Hermione in what she hoped was a clueless manner

"Don't play stupid with me" said Hannah "it doesn't suit you"

"I have no idea…"

"Oh cut the crap" said Hannah briskly "your ex-husband has been sticking it to Pansy and you know it"

"How did you find out?" Said Hermione avoiding answering that she had any prior knowledge of the situation.

"One of the perks of working here" said Hannah pouring them both another drink "people often forget the people who work here are quite observant and might be former classmates"

"But Pansy knows you work here…" said Hermione confused

"Yes. But she forgot you and I are friends and it never crossed her mind that we would have this conversation" said Hannah in a calm voice "you should also know that she didn't do any of this to hurt you. It's not the get back at Gryffindor's princess"

"Gryffindor's what?" Spluttered Hermione almost choking on her Firewhiskey.

"Didn't you know?" Chuckled "that's what everyone called you at Hogwarts!'

Hermione snorted "Regardless I don't think that I crossed Pansy's mind when she was sleeping with my husband"

"Listen" said Hannah "it's not my place to tell you this but she didn't mean for any of this to happen. She's married and the last thing she needed was to fall in love with your husband"

"Love?" Laughed Hermione "lord knows Pansy is incapable of such an emotion"

"Don't judge her before talking to her" said Hannah "she could surprise you"

"I cant imagine any scenario that would end up with me talking to Pansy" said Hermione taking another gulp of her drink "I understand people change, maybe she has, but sometimes there's too much bad blood"

"Well" said Hannah "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I do know Draco is one of the best lawyer there are and if you're going through a divorce it wouldn't surprise me if you seeked his services"

"So what?" Said Hermione

"So" continued Hannah "my advice to you, as a friend, is if you're going to tell Draco about his wife's infidelity with you husband you should at least give Pansy a warning before"

"And why should I do that" said Hermione sternly "did she warn me before she started sleeping with my husband?"

"No" agreed Hannah "but this is your chance to be the bigger person"

"I don't know if she deserves for me to be the bigger person"

"Just think about it" said Hannah kindly "if not for Pansy, at least for Ron"

"For Ron?"

"If you want any chance of remaining friends with him you should warn him instead of Draco just showing up and hexing him for sleeping with his wife"

The two women sat in silence sipping on their drinks quietly, watching people enter and exit the bar, tuning in and out of various conversations and just taking in their surroundings. After a few minutes Hermione broke the silence.

"Have you managed to move on?"

"From?"

"Neville" said Hermione "He was, I presume, the man you imagined spending the rest of your life with. After the break-up have you managed to move on or imagine another love?"

Hannah held her drink, obviously thinking before answering the question.

"Yes and no" she said finally "At the beginning no, I hooked-up with a lot of men because I was angry. Because I thought there was no point waiting for 'the one' because I was sure he didn't exist. But now, now I think there is someone out there for me, and don't get me wrong if there's an attractive man who's interested in some fun, I'm not going to say no, but I do believe that at one point someone will stand out again, someone will steal my heart and make me feel like I did when I was in love"

"It's just Ginny keeps on telling me to get out there and have some fun but I can't imagine being with anyone else but Ron" said Hermione blushing

"So there's only been Ron then?" Said Hannah raising her eyebrow

"What did you think" said Hermione trying to hide her glowing red face behind her glass

"Well…Don't take this the wrong way" said Hannah "but a lot of people at school thought you and Viktor had, you know…"

"No" said Hermione quickly "I was too young to even think of a serious relationship at that point. He was handsome and a good friend but nothing more"

"And" continued Hannah "I know that I and a lot of other people thought that you had hooked up with Harry"

"WHAT?" Shrieked Hermione

"Keep your voice down" hushed Hannah "I mean you spent a lot of time together and disappeared for almost a year together and…"

"We were trying to destroy Voldemort" snorted Hermione "it didn't exactly leave for a lot of time to get intimate"

"So even when Ron was dating Lavender you two never?"

Hermione smiled "Harry was already in love with Ginny back then. In any case Harry was always like a brother to me, I've never seen him in any other way"

"Fair enough" said Hannah getting them yet another drink and placing one in front of Hermione "well I get it"

"Get what?"

"You've had one man" she said "and you thought that would be it, giving yourself to someone else is going to be scary at first but also so fun"

"Fun?"

"Oh come on!" Laughed Hannah "I know you have a reputation of being prude but…"

"Prude!?" Squeaked Hermione

"Aren't you?" Said Hannah raising her eyebrow again and smirking

"No" said Hermione blushing again and taking another gulp of her drink and feeling herself lose control of her senses

"So you're telling me" said Hannah grinning wickedly "you're not miss-missionary and granny pants?"

"You're as bad as Ginny" laughed Hermione "I enjoy comfortable underwear and I am not flexible"

"Excuses, excuses" tutted Hannah "you don't need to be flexible to get down and dirty"

"Hannah!" exclaimed Hermione "I didn't know you were so…."

"Fun?" Finished Hannah winking "listen when I was with Neville I was like you"

"Like me?" Hermione said confused

"Yeah. I was boring" she said flat out "and I saw nothing wrong with it, I was all about work, and to be honest at lot of times when I got home I was tired and wasn't in the mood for anything. I didn't make an effort and I was beyond horrified at the thought of spicing things up"

"Nothing wrong with being work driven" said Hermione defensively

"Of course not" smiled Hannah "but there's more to life than work, and the moment you balance it, take risks and go a little wild, you might discover another side to yourself"

"Maybe I should bring you lingerie shopping" sniggered Hermione

"Don't joke about that" said Hannah "We are doing that"

"I'm not letting you pick out my sex clothes" yelped Hermione

"Yes I am!" Laughed Hannah and both girls fell into a fit of giggles.

"You know" said Hermione "I didn't want to talk to anyone today but I'm glad I bumped into you. I really think I needed this"

"Glad to be of service" said Hannah bowing comically "here give me your cellphone number"

"You have a cellphone?" Said Hermione surprised

"There are some perks to muggle technology" said Hannah "texting is one of them, much more effective than owl post and less messy"

The two girls exchanged numbers and Hannah got up "right I think I need to get back to work and make sure the new employees haven't made a mess of everything"

Hermione made to get up and stumbled

"Are you going to be ok?" Said Hannah "do you need a potion to sober up?"

"I'm fine" said Hermione quickly "I just need some fresh air, like you said it's good to be a bit wild sometimes"

Hannah watched as Hermione grabbed her bag and shrugged on her coat.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Said Hannah

"Yeah" slurred Hermione waving her off "I'm just off home"

"Message me you got home ok" said Hannah giving her a hug "don't be a stranger and don't forget lingerie shopping - I'll message you a date and time"

"Yeah, perfect" said Hermione not really listening, her eyes darting and making out the easiest route towards to exit

"Ok see you soon"

"Bye!"

Hermione made her way with every ounce of grace she could muster outside. Once the door closed behind her she breathed out and leaned against the wall grinning stupidly to herself

"Hermione?" came a voice behind her

Hermione whirled around and toppled over onto the floor

"Hermione are you ok?!"

FeelIng her face burning red Hermione quickly got to her feet and said "I'm fine I'm…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she saw the man standing in front of her, he was tall, with dark blonde hair and a muscular body that was outlined underneath his shirt.

"Neville?!" She gasped

"Long time no see" said Neville, his kind eyes twinkling "how are you doing?"

"I'm ok" said Hermione trying very hard to not slur her words "take it you heard about Ron and I?"

"Yeah word gets out quick" said Neville "sorry about that"

"Don't be" said Hermione quickly "I'm more than over it"

Neville chuckled "ok then!"

Hermione blushed and said "I'm sorry about you and Hannah though"

"Is she in there?" Said Neville looking towards the entrance to the Leakey Cauldron

"Yeah" said Hermione "she told me about what happened"

"No need to apologise" said Neville "she's moved on, and so have I?"

"So you're seeing someone?" Said Hermione curiously

"Not at the moment" said Neville "but I can see a life beyond Hannah now"

"That's good" said Hermione "well I won't keep you any longer" and she started walking

"Hey Hermione"

"Yes?" Said Hermione

"Fancy a quick drink with me?"

"I should really be on my way home Neville, sorry"

"Come on" said Neville "one drink for old time's sake and you can tell me how over Ron you are"

"Just one then" said Hermione very reluctantly and wishing she had accepted Hannah's potion

"Let's avoid the Cauldron" said Neville "I know Hannah and I are fine but I'd rather not drink with her around and especially with you and…"

"Ok" said "it's always awkward between ex's"

Neville nodded "I know this quiet place around the corner, come on" he held out his arms and Hermione very reluctantly took it. More in hopes that he would prevent her from falling over again than anything else. A few minutes later they were sat in a cozy booth in a wizarding pub with a glass in front of each other.

"So" said Neville "what have you been up to?"

"Well" Hermione started "I found out my husband was cheating on me, left him and now am trying to rebuild my life"

She instantly regretted her blunt manor, her filter seemed non existent now she was drunk and was sure she was going to regret it the next morning.

"Wow" said Neville "Ron cheated. Cheated on you?"

"That's the gist of it" said Hermione cheerfully "but there's not bad blood, we are different people who just aren't compatible"

"Hannah and I weren't compatible but we had the curtesy of breaking up before seeing other people" said Neville "what an idiot"

"Who?"

"Ron" said Neville laughing "come on Hermione, I know you were very invested in your studies but most boys at Hogwarts fancied you"

"Me?" Laughed Hermione "Neville you're very sweet but…"

"No Hermione" laughed Neville "with the exception of Harry who saw you as his sister, all Gryffindor boys fancied you at one point, trust me, boys talk too"

"Well" said Hermione blushing "that's very flattering"

"So if Ron decided to throw away your relationship then he's an idiot" and he petted her hand that was on the table

Hermione continued blushing and felt herself losing all her senses. Neville had grown up, and he had become very handsome.

"No!" Thought Hermione "you were just talking to his ex-wife, your friend… It's Neville!" But her stomach did a summersault at the thought of his arms around her…

"You ok?" Said Neville "I'm sorry if I creeped you out"

"No, no!" Said Hermione "I just got lost in my thoughts"

"A penny for them?" Said Neville

"Just thinking about life after Ron" said Hermione vaguely

"I'm sure it'll be great" he said reassuringly and squeezed her hand "everything you do is"

"You're too kind" she laughed "but I'm not that great or my husband would still be with me"

"Some people just aren't made to be" said Neville seriously "and that doesn't make either of you less great, it just means that happiness can't be found with each other. And that's ok too"

"That's true" said Hermione "but I always wonder if I could have done more you know"

"You should also wonder if he could have done more" reasoned Neville "at times you both stop trying and it's just a result of a lot of things"

"That's also true" smiled Hermione "thanks Neville!"

They spent the next hour drinking, reminiscing about their school years and catching up on what their lives had become. Hermione enjoyed the conversation and felt comfortable talking to Neville and she could feel a growing affection and desire for him. This could of course just be the alcohol or the cumulation of the last few days and her conversation she had just had with Hannah. She kept on telling herself that Neville was out of bounds, he was a friend and nothing more. It was forbidden territory.

After another hour Neville glanced down at his watch and gasped "is that the time?"

Hermione glanced at her cellphone. It was half past one in the morning and there was a message from Hannah

'Did you get home ok?'

Hermione felt her stomach drop and messaged quickly

'Sorry just seen this, ran into an old friend and had a catch up. Home now' she pressed send.

She hadn't completely lied. She had indeed ran into an old friend. S

"I best be off" said Neville "sorry"

"Me too" said Hermione and gingerly got to her feet and they made their way out together.

"You going to be ok getting home? You drank quite a lot" said Neville worriedly "I can walk you home if you want"

"That would be really nice" said Hermione without thinking and they made their way through London, taking in the quiet streets, the dim lights and chatting about meeting up soon again.

In what seemed like minutes they were outside Hermione's apartment block.

"Well this is me" said Hermione

"I'm sorry this was such a short catch up but I'm sure we'll have another one soon" said Neville hugging her.

Hermione didn't know what took over her. Maybe it was the drinks, maybe it was the anger and sadness or Neville's intoxicating cologne. In fact she was sure she was possessed because normal, rational Hermione would never have done this but she turned around and whispered

"It doesn't have to end now" and kissed him passionately, running her hands through his hair and pressing her body against his. She expected him to push her away, but he wrapped her arms around her and kissed her back, lifting her slightly off the ground.

They both broke off and looked at each other bewildered. Hermione grabbed his hand and lead him inside her apartment.

"Even Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit" Hermione told herself as she locked the door behind her and started shedding off her clothes and making her way towards Neville.

What she had forgotten was that Eve had paid the price for her actions…

 **Replies:**

 **ForsakenKalika:** Thank you for your comments loyalty - it's readers like you that keep this story alive. I am so grateful for you and your kind words. I'm hoping there won't be anymore long absences but like you said sometimes life gets in the way! Hope you're enjoying the story! Take care!


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again,**

 **I know - you haven't heard from me in months and now you get three new chapters all of a sudden! Just keep in mind that I probably will not be publishing over the bank holiday but will be back hopefully on Tuesday with a new chapter!**

 **Again a big thank you to every single one of you that has followed, favourited, and commented on this story. It is truly those actions that keeps my writing and passion alive and I hope to hear from more of you.**

 **Also if you enjoy this story it would mean the world to me if you would spread the word and the story to the Potter community as I would love to hear from more people about it.**

 **As always let me know what you thought of the chapter, the characters and what you think will happen next ;-)**

 **Lots of love always,**

 **Lumos Nox**

The morning sunshine creeped through the blinds, bathing the room in droplets of of golden light. Outside birds were singing their favourite tune as the wind slithered through the leaves of trees. By anyone's standards this picturesque morning was peaceful, even perfect.

Suddenly an alarm's shrill sound cut through the air like a knife and Hermione groaned and she turned over and opened her eyes just an inch. Last night was an alcohol fuelled blur, she had spoken to Hannah, drank too much for her own good, and then she had ran into Neville.

"Crap!"

Hermione sat up as if a jolt of electricity had shocked every last inch of her body.

"Ouch"

Her head felt like it was about to split in two. She looked underneath the covers and saw that she was in her underwear. Mortified, she looked around for her clothes, they were nowhere to be seen.

What had happened?

Where was Neville?

She held her head in her hands. These were too many questions and she was in no state to answer them. Then she remembered that in a matter of hours she would be expected at work.

"Crap, crap, crap!" She muttered rolling herself over and sitting on the edge of the bed, willing her head to stop pounding so that she could think about what to do. Then there was a soft knock on the door of her bedroom.

"Hermione?"

She swivelled around to look at the door. There in the doorframe stood Neville, completely dressed and holding a mug as well as a small vial.

"I hope you don't mind" he said softly as he entered and placed the mug on her bedside table "I am an early riser and thought you could do with some tea and a potion for the hangover"

"No of course not" stammered Hermione as she downed the vial and felt the pressure inside her head start to subside "thank you Neville… I don't… I don't know what to say… Oh Neville I'm so sorry!"

She suddenly burst into uncontrollable sobs. Neville crossed the room in a few strides and perched on the bed next to her, wrapping one strong, muscular arm around her and pulling her in close and she cried uncontrollably.

"Hermione it's ok…"

"No it's not" she cried "I am such an idiot"

"And why is that?" He asked calmly

"Because, I got drunk, I blabbed on inappropriately, I made you walk me home and then… Oh Neville!"

She covered her face with her hands and shrieked

"And then I assaulted you!"

There was a moment's silence and then a burst of laughter. Hermione raised her head and saw Neville bent over double laughing uncontrollably.

"What?!" She said crossly not sure whether she was humiliated or angry at his reaction to her outburst.

"I'm sorry" said Neville chuckling as he tried to regain control of his senses "I can't help it"

"What's so amusing?" Said Hermione standing up, crossing the room to put on her bathrobe and turn back o face Neville, arms crossed.

"The fact you think you assaulted me" said Neville a boyish grin across his face "I know you're one of the strongest witches I know but you'd assaulted me don't you think I'd put up a better fight, or do you still see as a blubbering first year?"

Hermione groaned "you know very well that's not what I meant"

"Tell me one thing Hermione" said Neville standing up as well and standing right in front of her " what do you recall happening last night?"

"Well" said Hermione starting to pace from one end of her room to the other, fiddling with her hair as she thought back to last night "we were both drunk, I kissed you, we both entered my apartment and I took off my clothes…"

Her voice trailed off.

"And then?" Said Neville his eyebrow raised

"Well I don't remember exactly but just by sheer logic I assume we…"

"We what?"

"Don't make me say it Neville!" She groaned "we slept together!"

"Wow" said Neville "now I'm not one to toot my own horn but Hermione if you and I had slept together, I would hope that you would have remembered it"

"What?" Hermione stopped pacing frantically and looked at Neville "we didn't?!"

"No" said Neville "you got undressed and we both got into your bed, we kissed, but just as it was about to go any further you got hysterical and started crying. I managed to calm you down and give you a calming draught and I slept on the sofa. I would have left but I wanted to make sure you were ok this morning"

Hermione sat down on her bed again.

"Neville I'm sorry" she said "my reaction has nothing to do with you… I thought I was ready but…"

"But you weren't" said Neville gently "and that's ok. Listen there's not point in forcing yourself into moving on. One day it will happen and you won't have to get drunk, and it will feel right. Maybe it'll be us, maybe it won't"

Hermione sat in silence. Words failed. For someone who was so often branded an insufferable know it all, words seemed to fail her very often nowadays.

"Listen to me" said Neville squatting down in front of her and taking her hands "it's ok, no one got hurt. You need to stop worrying about everyone else and worry about yourself and your happiness."

He got up "I need to head to work, but Hermione, if you ever need to talk you know where to find me" he kissed her on the cheek and left the room leaving Hermione alone and confused.

She glanced over and saw the time on her alarm clock and realised she would be late. She hastily got dressed in the first clothes she could find grabbed her bag and ran out the door, rushing into the closest deserted alleyway she could find and disappearing on the spot. She appeared a few streets away from the entrance to the ministry, she ran. Minutes later she was racing through the Atrium, into the lift and made it to her desk with a few minutes to spare.

She sank back into her seat, trying to regain her breath.

"Well, someone looks… dishevelled…"

Hermione looked up and saw Richard Perkins looking down on her.

"It's been a bit of a manic morning" said Hermione through gritted teeth

"I can see that" he sneered "I'll forgive your less than professional appearance if you hand in the papers on the Tri-Wizard tournament by noon, or else I may have to inform superiors of your unprofessional manner and the stench of alcohol"

He turned on his heel and left and Hermione resisted the urge to jinx him right in the back the head and busied herself instead with the mountain of papers on her desk. At half eleven she had finished the paper that Perkins had demanded and she placed on his desk.

"The Twi-Wizard documents" she said cooly

"I hope it is up to your usual standards" he said not glancing up at her "we wouldn't want your personal life to interfere with work now would we? Especially if you are hoping to gain a promotion any time soon"

"I can assure you" she said being very careful to control her temper "that my work is impeccable regardless of what may be happening in my life"

"For your sake, I hope it is"

She made to turn around but Perkins called her back

"Weasley?"

"Actually it's Granger now" she said turning around"

"Whatever" he said carelessly "I have a message for you"

"From?" She said curiously

"Mr Malfoy" he said "he wishes me to inform you that your next meeting is today at twelve in his office"

"Thank you sir" she turned around again but…

"And Granger…"

"Yes sir?"

"Next time have someone else deliver your personal messages, I have better things to do"

"Yes sir"

She left his office and found her way back to her desk. She continued working on her paper for the liberation of enslaved house elves. Before she knew it, her watch read 11:45. She got up, and proceeded to Draco's office.

His secretary smiled at her.

"Can I get you anything Miss Granger?"

"No thank you… I'm sorry but I never got your name?"

"I'm Jade" said the blonde witch as she led her to Draco's office "Mr Malfoy is expecting you"

"Thank you" Hermione smiled warmly at her and knocked three times on the door.

"Come in" Draco's voice called out and Hermione pushed the door open.

Draco stood in the doorway "Shall we?" He said

"I'm sorry?" Said Hermione confused

"I thought we would go get lunch together" said Draco as he strode out of his office and Hermione followed him still completely bewildered.

"I didn't know…"

"That people ate at lunch time?" Said Draco

"I knew that but…"

"Listen Granger, sometimes a change of setting is good, it helps us communicate better and focus on the case. I know a little cafe nearby that will do the trick and where we won't be overheard"

"How can you be sure we won't be?" Hermione asked incredulously

" Because I know the owners and they are under strict orders not to let any journalists in" said Draco cooly

"I guess that's the perks of being rich" said Hermione

"Last I heard you were quite well off financially" said Draco cooly

"How did you…?"

"I have my sources Granger"

They ended up in a small French themed cafe, sat across from each other with two steaming coffees and a toasted sandwich in front of them.

"So, had an eventful weekend?" Said Draco offhandedly

"What?" Said Hermione baffled at the question

"Well you smell like a distillery and look like you just flew through the forbidden forest and met a pack of unfriendly creatures" he said looking at her

"It's been a manic morning" she said cooly taking a sip of her coffee

"Seems like it was a manic night as well" he observed

"Is this really any of your business?" She said testily

"Actually, it is" he said leaning forward and looking in her eyes. His stormy grey ones bore into her.

"Because" he continued "If word gets out that you have been acting a certain kind of way, your husband can accuse you of infidelity and cause a lot of problems"

"So what" she said

"We want to just achieve a divorce correct?" He asked her, taking a bite of his sandwich

"Yes" Hermione said rolling her eyes slightly

"But what does Weasley want?" Draco asked her

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that whilst you may have peaceful intentions, if Weasley finds out you have been with other people whilst still married to him, he may react differently and come after you and your possession"

"Come after me?" Hermione repeatedly dumbfounded

"If there is proof of infidelity, domestic abuse or any other violation of your marriage vows, your husband can make a case for half of your money, property and possessions" said Draco leaning back and taking a sip of his coffee

"But he broke our vows first!" She protested angrily

"Well I wouldn't know that because you haven't told me anything I could use to begin to file for a divorce"

"Well he broke our vows and has been for a long time" she huffed angrily

"So he was unfaithful to your marriage?" Draco pressed on, his eyes gleaming

"Yes. He has been unfaithful" said Hermione through gritted teeth

"With who?"

"I can't tell you that yet"

"Why?"

"Because I just can't give me a few days and then you'll get the whole story" she said

"And why do you need to wait a few days" Draco's face suddenly fell "you're not going to tell him about this are you?!"

"He deserves a heads up" protested Hermione

"He destroyed your marriage" challenged Draco "why on earth would you warn him and take away our edge?!"

"Because when you're married to someone and that marriage ends, that doesn't mean your respect for them does" said Hermione glancing at her watch "I should head back to work now"

They stood up and walked back to work in silence. As they crossed the Atrium and approached the lifts Draco turned and stood in front of her.

"I want the story by Wednesday and to get the motion filed by the end of the week"

"Ok" said Hermione "I'll deal with what I have to deal with"

"And Granger" he called out "for what it's worth, if I were you and my partner had been unfaithful to our marriage I would lose all respect for her"

"So what happened to for better or for worse?" Hermione shot back

"The moment your partner sleeps with another person, those vows go out the window. I may have reformed but I'm not a saint" and he walked away and Hermione shook her head. This was going to get very complicated very soon. She would have to talk to Ron and Pansy tonight.

The rest of the day was a blur, she got through her mountain of work but in the back of her mind she was trying to come up with a plan to insure the less chaos. But no matter what scenario she imagined, she knew that innocent people would get hurt, just like she had. She held her head in her hands and breathed deeply. She has to do this. There was no other option.

As five o'clock came around she rushed home and headed straight for the bathroom. People hadn't been wrong; she did look like a complete mess. She stripped quickly and jumped in the shower, scrubbing every inch of herself and lathering her hair with shampoo, the smell of strawberries and mint filled the steamy air and she groaned happily.

She jumped out the shower, dried herself and straightened her hair before heading over to her wardrobe where she picked out a black pair of jeans, a light blue sweater and some brown booties.

Feeling satisfied with her appearance and glad she didn't smell of alcohol anymore. She fed Crookshanks and gave him a quick cuddle and promised she'd be back soon before heading out the door. The sun was beginning to set and she started walking, thinking.

Where could she find Ron? Burrow? She doubted it.

And she couldn't exactly turn up at Malfoy Manor, asking to talk to Pansy Parkinson without raising suspicion. She decided that one person who may have an idea about where she should start looking was Hannah. She just hoped that she hadn't caught wind of what had happened between her and Neville last night.

She pushed open the door to the Leakey Cauldron and scanned the room, spotting Hannah at the bar. She headed over and smiled.

"Hey Hannah'

"You look very fresh" she noticed "what can I get you?"

"A coffee please" she started "and why wouldn't I look fresh?"

"Well I saw the state you left in, thought you'd still be in bed with a hangover" she said placing a big mug of coffee in front of her.

"Ah well potions do work magic" she said lightly and took a sip, hoping to change the conversation before they entered dangerous territory.

"Hannah can I ask you a question?"

"Ask away" she said cleaning the bar

"Do you know where either Ron or Pansy are?"

She stopped and looked up at her "how come?"

"Because my lawyer wants to file for divorce by the end of the week and I'm taking your advice and giving them a warning"

"I'm happy to hear that" she said smiling "I mean they normally end up here and sometimes rent a room here as well. Do you want me to have a look at if they booked a room tonight?"

"That would be fantastic" said Hermione smiling "and Hannah?"

"Yes?" She said summoning a large book and flicking through it

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked cautiously

She closed the book and looked at Hermione "I'm ok" she sighed "It's just been a long day and healer training is tough. Sometimes it's hard to balance everything and stay positive"

"I get that" Hermione smiled "and I admire how strong you are"

"Thanks Hermione" she said smiling back at her "and yes they have booked a room tonight so I'm guessing they should be here any minute"

She broke off as the door opened and said "speak of the devil"

Hermione turned around and saw Ron and Pansy standing in the doorframe. They both froze and looked at her a look of shock and horror on their faces. Just as they made to turn around and exit Hannah waved and said "come here"

Looking horrified they shuffled to the bar and didn't say a word. All four of them stood in awkward silence until Hannah broke it by saying.

"She knows"

"I told you we couldn't trust her" said Ron heatedly looking at Hannah accusingly

"I didn't hear it from Hannah" said Hermione cooly "and I'm not interested in another fight"

"Then why are you here?" Said Pansy curiously, taking a seat and taking a glass of red wine that was handed to her by Hannah.

"To give you a heads up" said Hermione "We need to get a divorce, and the truth will come out"

"Just because you get a divorce doesn't mean you need to sell the story to the papers" snorted Pansy "I thought that was below you Granger"

"I'm not going to sell it to the papers" retorted Hermione "but in order to get a divorce my lawyer needs to know the details of the situation, and I plan on telling him on Wednesday"

"And why on earth would we care if your lawyer knows?" Said Ron

"Because it will affect you" Hermione persisted, hoping they would catch on without her having to spell it out for them.

"And who is your lawyer may I ask?" Said Pansy airily

"Draco" said Hannah curtly and Pansy's face fell

"NO!" She hissed "you can't"

"I'm not doing this to hurt you!" Hermione hissed back at her "but he's the best lawyer in the Ministry and I trust him"

"Don't make me laugh" sneered Pansy "this is revenge for the end of your marriage"

"Only you would be SO self centred to believe it's all about you" scoffed Hermione

"You need to change lawyers" said Ron

"I'm sorry. I can't"

"Why can't you" said Ron in a deadly voice

"Because he took on my case before I knew what was going on between both of you" lied Hermione quickly, if I back out now he's going to get suspicious

"Say it's a conflict of interest" said Pansy "say you just don't trust him"

"Listen" Hermione leaned over to speak to her "what I still can't wrap my head around is the fact that you two are obviously in a relationship and are happy, why on earth do you still want to be married to Draco?"

"Because" Pansy retorted

"Excellent reason" Hermione snorted

"Don't speak to her like that" Ron warned her

"Or what Ron?" Said Hermione "Listen after what happen I had no reason to tell you what was going to happen but I did and I'm giving Pansy a chance to break the news to Draco before I do."

Ron swore loudly and Pansy looked like she was about to break down.

"I'm sorry" said Hermione "but that is my final decision and I think it's what's best for everyone, that way you two can finally be together and not hurt everyone else in the process, because trust me, it's not fun being on the receiving end of your relationship"

She got up grabbed her bag and said "Good-bye". She headed out the door but before she had the chance to get home she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Pansy.

"Pansy don't make me hex you" warned Hermione

"Hermione please" she implored "you don't know what this will do to Draco"

"Should have thought about that before you fucked my husband!" yelled Hermione and turned on the spot and disaparated.

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 **ForsakenKalika:** As always a special thank you for your review and loyalty my lovely - hope you're still enjoying the story and characters!


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello readers!**

 **Sorry for yet another absence - my life took another turn and I recently got employed and am working all sorts of crazy hours; so I took a break from writing to complete my training and get into the swing of things but now I'm back with a bang! Just as a heads up this chapter contains some very saucy passages and swearing.**

 **Let me know what you think, whether you like it, what you want to see more of and what you don't like! And as always let me know what you think is going to happen next. I answer to almost all reviews and it honestly is what keeps me going.**

 **Also if you like the story please share it about with your friends, Harry Potter groups you may be in and anything else - let's try and get this story read as that would mean the world to me as a writer!**

 **All my love to you all and I will update you very soon with the next chapter.**

 **Lumos Nox.**

Hermione didn't really know how she got home, it was all a blur of yells, tears and storming off into the night. She dropped her keys as she got to her front door. Her hands shook with a mixture of anger and shock.

She cursed softly and pulled her wand out of her bag, she pointed it at the door and whispered,

"Alohamora"

The lock clicked and she entered her apartment. She flung her bag onto the kitchen island and sunk onto her sofa, her mind was racing, thought after thought flashed through her brain making her heart race and her palms sweat.

She raised her wand and flicked it. A bottle of wine and a glass soared from the kitchen and landed neatly on the living room table in front of her. She flicked her wand again. The bottle uncorked itself and the bottle tipped, pouring a generous serving into the glass.

Magic helped her anxiety, it required her to clear her mind and concentrate on the task at hand, pushing aside all the dark thoughts and doubts that had a tendency of invading her mind. It was her form of mediation, her happy place. For a long time Hermione had thought that this was the reason why she was a witch, because to was her way of surviving this life; her lifeline.

She downed the glass of wine and poured herself another and as she raised the glass to her lips she heard a knock at her front door.

Glancing at her watch she saw that it was nearing midnight. Who on earth would come knocking at this time? Her mind started racing again until she came to the conclusion that it must be Ron trying to convince her to keep her mouth shut. She pocketed her wand in her back pocket and made her way to the front door.

She opened it and was surprised to see Pansy Parkinson standing in the doorway, her expression unreadable.

"Pansy what are you doing here?" Said Hermione, not even attempting to make an effort to mask her surprise at seeing one of her school rivals knocking at her door.

"I think you and I need to talk" said Pansy "woman to woman"

"I said what I needed to say to you" replied Hermione curtly "I'm sorry"

"Can't you just let me in and hear what I have to say" pressed on Pansy "I'm not here to change your mind but I think you deserve to hear my side too"

"Oh I'm sorry" said Hermione in mock sympathy "did your husband also cheat on you for months on end?"

"Just because you endured pain doesn't mean other people haven't" said Pansy drily "surely you're not so self centred"

"Funny coming from the Snake princess" retorted Hermione

"Excuse me?" Said Pansy "what exactly is that suppose to mean"

"It means you're a spoilt brat who's had everything she could have possibly wanted always served to her on a silver plater" Hermione said "it means you have never had any moral issues with being cruel and downgrading towards others and now that life isn't going your way and I'm not giving you exactly what you want you're accusing me of being self centred when you are the most self centred human I've had the misfortune of meeting"

There was a long, awkward silence as the two witches stood in the doorway not breaking eye-contact even for a second.

"Are you done?" Said Pansy

"What?" Hermione was shocked

"I asked you if you were done" repeated Pansy "can we talk like adults now instead of like children now?"

Hermione tried to think of something witty to say but words failed her, and to her greater surprised Pansy strode past her into her apartment.

"It's beautiful in here" said Pansy looking around at the living room and kitchen area "why on earth didn't you and Ron live here?"

"He didn't like it here" said Hermione drily "said it didn't feel like home to him"

"Home is where you make it" muttered Pansy more to herself than anyone else "I learnt that a long time ago"

Part of Hermione wanted to tell Pansy to get the hell out of her home, but part of her was curious to know what she had to say.

"Do you want a glass of wine?" Said Hermione deciding to go against her better judgement and play nice for now.

"Yes please" said Pansy and Hermione waved her wand and a second glass floated towards them. Pansy caught it and they both sat down on the sofa.

"So" prompted Hermione watching the bottle magically fill up Pansy's glass "what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologise for how this all happened" said Pansy looking down at her glass and avoiding Hermione's gaze

"I want to say it's a bit too little too late" responded Hermione drily

"This wasn't how it was all suppose to happen" said Pansy "I never wanted to be the promiscuous mistress who steals other people's husbands"

"Could have fooled me"

"Can you please cut it out" said Pansy rolling her eyes "what I mean is that woman was my mother, she was the promiscuous mistress who slept with married men whilst my father was travelling all the time. My childhood consisted of watching my mother parade men in and out of the house, sometimes my friend's fathers"

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yes"

"Why didn't you tell your father?"

Pansy squirmed uncomfortably and downed her glass which Hermione refilled automatically before summoning another bottle to the coffee table.

"I was about seven years old" started Pansy "and I was in my room, playing with my dolls like every little girl does when suddenly I heard strange noises. My dad was off to America and I was worried something might have happened to my mother"

Hermione could sense where this story was going

"so I cracked open her bedroom door and saw her in bed with another man who wasn't my father. She told me to shut the door and go to my room. So I did"

Her eyes started filling with tears.

"A few hours later I heard the front door open and close and she came up to my room. She told me this was our little secret and she made me make an unbreakable vow. My dad died before the war and my mother died during the battle of Hogwarts so it's not been long since I've been able to talk about it to anyone…"

"You mother made her seven-year-old daughter make an unbreakable vow?" Said Hermione gobsmacked.

"Some people aren't made to be parents" said Pansy taking another sip of wine "my mother was one of those people. Thankfully she only had one child"

"And your dad?" Hermione asked

Pansy smiled "I loved my father and he treated me like a princess. He was a sweet man and he would have loved to have more children but my charming mother said giving birth to one child was enough and she wasn't ruining her body again. I think that's why my father spoiled me so much…"

Her voice trailed off.

"I still don't understand" said Hermione frowning "after all you've gone through how could you sleep with a married man behind Draco's back?"

"My marriage to Draco is, or should I say was, always complicated. He was suppose to marry Astoria but her parents forced her to pull out before the marriage, they told her to choose between Draco and her inheritance. She chose galleons over love and disappeared to America to marry some rich aristocratic pureblood over there"

"But I hear you and Draco got married a few months after she suddenly left the country?"

"Been reading the Daily Prophet?" Laughed Pansy "Draco and I have always been close, since Hogwarts. We were each other's firsts, we spent every summer together because our families were so close. We argued during the war and when it ended he had put a ring on Astoria's finger. The day she left him he turned up at my house distraught and we both got drunk"

"And a one night stand turned into an engagement and marriage?"

"It's not the classic love story, mine never tend to be" said Pansy curtly "we started see each other more and more and one day we both decided it would make sense. His family demanded he marry a pureblood and my family aren't around to stop me. A big ring, and several months later we were Mr and Mrs Malfoy"

"I saw your wedding picture" said Hermione suddenly remembered "on Draco's desk at work"

Pansy smiled sadly "I don't look very happy considering it was suppose to be the happiest day of my life"

"How come?"

"It was a big show that Narcissa set up with a lot of press, interviews and pictures. It didn't feel like a wedding at all, but it helped the Malfoy's recover from the messy press from Astoria so I agreed to it all."

"So you were two friends who got married?" Said Hermione slowly "and have been friends for years"

"Yes" said Pansy filling up both their glasses

"So why not tell Draco you weren't in love?"

"Because it'll still hurt him" she said "I know I'm not the love of his life. I know he doesn't love me as much as he loved Astoria butI don't even think she was the one for him. But he accepts this love because it's the love he thinks he deserves. So when this ends, he'll think he deserved to be cheated on and alone for the rest of his life and I don't know what that could do to him"

"I'm sure he'll be fine" said Hermione "he doesn't strike me as the emotional type"

"You don't know him. He's suffered more than most people have in a life time. Just because he doesn't show it doesn't mean he doesn't hurt, he just has a darker coping mechanism than most"

"I was married to Ron Weasley; don't tell me about dark coping mechanisms" said Hermione darkly

"And how many glasses of wine have you had?" Said Pansy "seems like it's not only your husband that drowns his problem"

"I don't normally do this" said Hermione "but given the fact I'm having a heart to heart with a girl who bullied me all through school, I thought alcohol might be necessary"

"Oh please" snorted Pansy "are you still the same girl you were when you were at school?"

"No but… "

"Well neither am I. That school put us into different groups, created rivalries and everyone judged me either because they thought I was a spoilt brat because of my family or because they thought I was evil because I was a Slytherin. So I acted out."

Hermione thought about that for a minute. She had to admit that she had a fair point but she wasn't about to admit that to her so she decided to change the subject.

"So why my husband? Out of all the wizards in the world, why Ron?"

Pansy didn't answer straight away, she swirled her wine in its glass and took a long sip.

"I wasn't looking for anyone. Much less him." she started "Draco had been constantly working late and I'd barely seen him for months, when I confronted him about it we got into a big argument and I set off and went for a drink, I was blind drunk and the next think I knew I woke up next to Ron. We were both appalled and didn't want to admit it happened so we pretended it didn't. But the more we ignored each other the more we bumped into each other and…"

"Yeah I get the point" said Hermione chugging down her wine again to erase the mental image of Pansy riding her husband.

"I'm sorry" said Pansy quietly "but I do love him"

"Do you love Draco?" Said Hermione looking her dead in the eye.

"No"

"Well you owe him hearing it from you than me" said Hermione "I appreciate your story and what happened and I believe you might not be as evil as I made you out to be, but I need to look out for myself as well, and to move on with my life I need this divorce and in order to get that, I need to your husband to know my situation"

Pansy smiled sadly "Ah well. I tried"

"Did you really think I'd drop my lawyer to keep your relationship with Ron a secret?" Said Hermione in disbelief "If you two love each other it shouldn't be a secret. Not just because Draco and I deserve better, but because you two deserve better as well"

"He cares about you too" said Pansy getting up and getting her bag "Ron still cares about you Hermione"

"I appreciate the sentiment" said Hermione curtly getting up "but he stopped caring about me a long time ago"

Pansy delved into her bag and retrieved a glass vial with a silvery substance she handed it to Hermione

"Ron didn't just run into my arms one night and forgot about you" said Pansy "watch this and maybe you'll hate him a bit less"

She put on her coat and said "Thank you for your time and hospitality" before turning on her heel and heading out the door. Closing the door softly behind her.  
Hermione sank back onto the sofa and looked at the small vial that was in her hand that contained Pansy's memories. She couldn't even imagine what these memories could contain, conversations about her with her husband, steamy nights together… Hermione couldn't help but open another bottle of wine and didn't even bother to use the glass and she drank directly from the bottle. Moments later she closed her eyes and fell asleep on the sofa.

A soft 'Tap. Tap' woke her up and as she looked up she saw a big eagle owl perched on her window, a scroll of parchment attached to his leg. She got up and saw it was seven o'clock . She cursed underneath her breath as she strode over and untied the scroll and the owl hopped onto the table and stared at her expectantly. Not sure what the owl was actually expecting Hermione unrolled the scroll and read,

"Miss Granger

I hope you remember the information you must give me by Wednesday in order for us to file a motion before the end of the week.

It is crucial and you must not forget.

Kind Regards,

D. Malfoy"

Hermione quickly grabbed a quill and scrolled on the back of it

"Understood.

I'm working on it.

Hermione"

She then attached the letter to the leg of the owl and it hopped back onto the window, spread its majestic wings and took off into the London morning.

Hermione watched it disappear out of sight before heading into the bathroom, taking a quick shower and getting ready. As she snatched up her bag she noticed the small vial containing Pansy's memories on the coffee table and pocketed it. She knew there was a pensive in the department of mysteries at work that she could visit during her lunch hour. Until then she decided to put the vial and what it may contain to the back of her mind and she set off for work.

The first half of her day at work was surprisingly quiet and calm. Perkins had come down with a stomach bug and would be unable to make it in for the rest of the week. This cheered Hermione up significantly as she sorted through all her work without any snide comments or interruptions. She almost forgot about the small vial in her pocket until she noticed it was half past twelve and time for her lunch hour.

She quietly slipped into the lift and headed down to the department of mysteries. She had been there before for a number of work related reasons therefor no one really questioned her presence there and she was able to slip into the pensive room without any questions.

Retrieving the small vial from her bag she uncorked it and swirled it, watching the contents spin round. She tipped it over and prodded the silver substance and watched it unfold into a mixture of out of focus images. She hands trembled as she placed them on the side of the pensive, her knees went week. She had no idea what she was getting herself into but she had to know. It was always better to know.  
She took a deep breath and plunged head first into the pensive.

Down she went.

She continued free falling through oblivion until finally her feet met the ground and she straightened herself up and she tried to regain her bearings. Her heart sank as she noticed where she was.

It was Malfoy Manor. The very place where during the war she had been tortured by Draco's aunt Bellatrix Lestrange. But something seemed different about the place. It felt less dark and ominous, as if the evil presence and memories had been wiped from it.

She then heard a sudden clicking noise and wheeled around. It was Pansy. She was dressed in black cigarette trousers, a crisp white shirt and red bottomed heels. She looked angry.

"Stupid git" she muttered "he's 45 minutes late AGAIN!"

She continued to pace up and down the living-room and the frantic clicking of her heels echoed on the marble floors and resonated through the room. Hermione stood back and observed her. She kept on glancing at the watch at her wrist and muttering to herself until suddenly the doorbell magically echoed throughout the house. A loud chime.

She froze like a blood hound, her head tilted towards the source of the noise. Then she rushed towards the front door, the loud clicking ever present.

Hermione followed, expecting to see her open the door to Draco but as she opened the door she saw Ron Weasley standing in the doorway his hair ruffled and a dopey grin on his face. Hermione's heart sunk into her stomach and she suddenly felt sick. She wanted to scream at Ron, ask him what he was doing at Malfoy Manor instead of being at their home but it was pointless. This was a memory of Ron after all.

Pansy didn't seem very happy with his presence as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"What time do you call this Ronald?"

"Time for a drink I reckon" winked Ron as he made his way inside and Hermione heard Pansy sigh exasperatedly.

"Got some nice stuff here Pans" said Ron he called to her from the kitchen

"Don't touch anything!" Snapped Pansy and she rushed away to see what Ron was up to.

Hermione followed the clicking and found herself in the kitchen.

Ron was holding an old bottle of Firewhiskey

"Don't" said Pansy "that's Draco's and he'll notice if it's empty"

"Fuck him" said Ron "the git's so rich I doubt he'll notice anything goes missing"

"He will since it was a wedding gift we received" said Pansy angrily

"Even more reason to drink it eh" smiled Ron and he slapped Pansy's backside before opening the bottle.  
"You do realise you're 45 minutes late" snapped Pansy as she glared at Ron

"Yeh" said Ron more preoccupied with chugging down a large gulp from the bottle.

"You realise you were an hour late last time, and two hours the time before that" Pansy continued.

"Well I'm slowly improving then" smiled Ron as he tried to grab her around the waist but she pushed him away.

"Why don't you just keep your word! Why can't you commit to me or at least not leave me waiting for you to arrive at whatever time you decide is best for you"

"You know why" growled Ron, and his character suddenly changed and he glared at her "I'm not having this fucking argument with you again Pans"

"THEN TELL HER" she cried, her eyes swelling up with tears

"No" said Ron shortly and took another long swig from the bottle

"Why not?! Doesn't she deserve it? Don't I?!"

"Because I still love her Pans" he snapped "because she has been my life for so long and I don't know if I'm willing to lose all that for…"

"For what?!" Shrieked Pansy "go on, finish your sentence"

"For a former death-eater" said Ron looking at her dead in the eye

Pansy rolled up both her sleeves and showed him

"Do you see a dark mark?" She asked "Do you!?"

"No but.."

"SO DON'T YOU DARE" she yelled "AND EVEN IF I WAS, PEOPLE CHANGE RONALD"

"I bet your husband hasn't" smirked Ron continuing to drink, almost half the bottle was gone at this rate.

"Is that why you're doing this?" Laughed Pansy "to get back at your enemy by fucking his wife?!"

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't satisfying to know the prat has no clue I'm bending over his wife and he has no clue" laughed Ron and he slopped some drink down his front

"You're vile" spat Pansy "look at yourself!"

"Tell me you don't love this" he slurred grabbing her waist and pulling her close

"I love you" she corrected him "but I don't want this if you don't love me"

"I told you" he whispered "we'll sort it all out soon. I just need time Pans"

"Promise me?" She whispered back  
He didn't answer he just took another swig and put down the bottle and started pulling at her trousers but he was clumsy and drunk and Pansy had to help him. He literally ripped off her lace underwear and roughly turned her around, bending her over the counter.

Hermione felt sick. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing. She couldn't believe Pansy was so cruel as to rub this in her face by sharing this disgusting memory with her. She wanted to throw up as she saw Ron strip naked and place himself behind Pansy, thrusting himself clumsily into her and she groaned, he grabbed her hair and wrenched it back, continuing to thrust.

She couldn't watch anymore and Hermione turned around, not sure how to escape the memory but knowing she no longer wanted to be here at all. As she made her way towards the front door she heard Ron's voice echo across the manor

"Ahhh….Yes Hermione"

And she froze.

She couldn't believe what she heard and she wheeled around and heard Pansy screaming obscenities. Hermione rushed back into the kitchen and saw them both standing across the kitchen, Ron naked and Pansy trying to cover herself with her shirt with one hand whilst the other had her want pointed at Ron.

"I'm sorry Pans" stuttered Ron, red in the face

"No!" She screamed "this happens way too often for sorry to be good enough anymore"

"It's not my fault" he begged

Pansy laughed mirthlessly "and how in Merlin's name is THIS not your fault"

"Because she was my first and my only!" Yelled Ron

"WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHERS" yelled Pansy "DON'T ACT LIKE I'M THE ONLY ONE! SO WHY DO YOU KEEP REPEATING HER NAME WHEN WE FUCK!?"

"BECAUSE SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO MATTERS" bellowed Ron

Pansy burst into tears and knelt onto the floor and Ron hurried over.

"I'm sorry Pans, she's the only one who mattered, now it's you. It's just been a lot of years and it's not easy to just let go"

"Is that why you drink?" Sniffled Pansy looking up at him "not because of the war, but because you can't cope with the death of your marriage?"

Ron didn't answer.

"Why on earth should I believe you'll ever end it with her?"

"Because we don't love each other that way anymore" muttered Ron "but that doesn't mean I don't care and want to hurt her. She deserves better than that"

And all off a sudden the floor left and Hermione was falling again, the world around her dissolved and started spinning and before she knew it she was back in the dark pensive room in the ministry. She sank to her knees and burst into tears. She didn't know how to feel. She just knew she ached all over.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello sweet readers,**

 **I want to start off by saying WOW - the previous chapter is probably the one that initiated the more response and you guys sharing your opinions on the plot and characters! I am so grateful for every view and review that I receive and I hope the following chapter continues to provoke an emotional response from all of you! Please leave a review as I love hearing from you all!**

 **I am posting two days in a row because I get random days off every week (oh the joys of working in retail) so whenever I am off I am going to do my best to post a chapter but it probably won't be on set days.  
**  
 **Again this chapter is a bit steamy and with swear words. So be warned! Let me know what you like and what you don't!**

 **As always, I know it's a bit cheeky but I hope that if you enjoy the story up until now that you will share it with fellow Potterheads who are looking for a new FanFiction to reader, or on Harry Potter groups. Let me know if you have and I will thank you each individually. Your views is what keeps me writing and every new follower and review means the world!**

 **All my love, always.**

 **Lumos Nox**

 **PS. Replies to reviews are at the bottom of the chapters every time :)**

Hermione knelt on the floor of the cold dark room, shaking uncontrollably. She felt sick to her stomach and felt bile rise up in her throat and anger pulse through her body. It was over whelming. She felt as if she was trapped in the middle of the ocean and wave after wave was crashing upon her.

First, a wave of sadness.

Second, a wave of anger.

Third, a wave of disgust.

Fourth, a wave of confusion.

She felt like she was drowning and she had to keep her head above all of these emotions that were crashing all around her. She couldn't fall apart here, not at work. She reached up and grabbed the sides of the pensive with both hands and hoisted herself up.

A million thoughts raced through her head, why on earth did Pansy think this would make her feel any better?! Did she think that her husband hurting another woman and blaming it on his so-called love for her was going to be flattering? Did she think that just because he called out her name during intercourse with other women that she would forgive his indiscretions? Did she think that because he acted a drunken mess towards everyone else that she should feel better about it all?

She had wanted to believe that Pansy was good, that beneath it all she had a good heart. Hermione hadn't wanted to be the scorned wife who blamed the mistress for her husband's indiscretion but she couldn't help but loath Pansy.

Did she think all was forgiven just because she had urged Ron to end his relationship with her? Did that suddenly make her a saint? Not by Hermione's standards. They were both as bad as one another and as far as Hermione was concerned they deserved each other and what they pretended was love. However she wasn't going to let them have an idilic fairytale; she refused to let them continue oblivious to the pain they caused without some form of repercussion. Every action had a reaction.

She whipped her face which was covered in a mixture of sweat and tears and straightened herself, she would get herself through the rest of the day. Then it would be time. She pulled out her wand, scooped up the silver memories and placed them delicately back into the vial before pocketing it and striding out of the room and back to her desk where she preoccupied herself with House Elf Enslavement.

Even when her life took dark turns, she always found comfort in books, work and studying. It was one of her escape strategies. After the war she had returned to Hogwarts to complete her final year and graduate. She had gotten through that year by finding quiet, peaceful corners in the castle and it's surrounding grounds and sitting in silence, studying and reading whilst listening to bird song fill the air. She cast her mind to the spring days where she had sat under the shade of a giant oak tree and read heavy volumes on Ancient Runes and Transfiguration and she smiled to herself.

She glanced up and saw it was five o'clock. Her hands started sweating but she knew what she had to do. All her life she had been unfailingly kind, to the point of being naive and people had always taken advantage of that kindness and repeatedly stabbed her in the back. Even her own husband had. Heart racing she got up and found her way to the Ministry Owlery where hundreds of owls sat perched, ready to be of use if any ministry worker needed it.

A small fluffy white owl that reminded her of a bit of Hedwig hopped into her arm and Hermione smiled as she stroked her soft feathers. With the owl still perched on her shoulder Hermione kneeled down and pulled out of her bag a piece of parchment and a peacock quill. She scrolled two words on it.

"Time's Up"

And attached it to the leg of the owl. The owl observed her with it's round brown eyes and Hermione breathed in deeply before saying to it,

"Make sure this finds Pansy Parkinson. Can you do that for me?"

The owl hooted softly and took off.

Hermione breathed deeply and took off, she was on a mission and she had to see it through. She kept her head down as the made her way to the lifts. A few minutes later Jade was smiling up at her.

"Hello Miss Granger, how can I help you today?"

"I'd like to see Mr Malfoy please" said Hermione shifting her weight from one foot to another.

"Is he expecting you?" Said Jade glancing down her clipboard

"No. But this is urgent. Tell him I have proof."

Looking mystified Jade dismissed herself and disappeared into Draco's office. Less than a minute later she was back.

"Mr Malfoy will see you now"

"Thank you Jade"

Hermione made her way into the office and saw that Draco was sitting on the edge of his desk.

"I hear you have some important information to share with me?" He said.

"Yes" said Hermione nervously, trying to discreetly wipe the sweat from her hands on her trousers.

"Well then?" Said Draco leaning forward "what is it?"

"I just…" stuttered Hermione "I don't know if I should…"

"Listen Miss Granger" said Draco calmly "I understand how you must be feeling"

"You do?" Said Hermione confused

"Yes" he said softly "but you are not the first witch to ask for a divorce and you won't be the last. I know that doesn't make speaking ill of your former partner any easier but it is for the greater good"

"That was Grindelwald's moto"

"What?"

"For the greater good"

"Granger" Draco started, a note of impatience in his voice "I can see you're playing for time. I cannot do anything for you if you do not hand over the information I need. It will be hard but you will feel better for it in the long run, I can promise you that". The last words were said with a soft, almost caring tone.

And for some reason Hermione believed him and felt safe enough to do what she knew she had to do. She reached into her bag and pulled out the vial with Pansy's memory in it.

"Ah" said Draco "memories. Are these Mr Weasley's because I must inform you if you took them forcefully I cannot…"

"They were given not forcefully taken" said Hermione quietly "and no, they are not Ron's"

"Then who's are they?" Said Draco curiously

"You'll see when you review them" she said drily.

"What is it you are not telling me?" Asked Draco

"It'll all be answered when you view the memory" Hermione said looking him straight in the eyes. His silver, stormy eyes bore into her as if they were trying to read her mind.

"Very well Miss Granger" said Draco taking the vile from her "I will review them this evening and we shall meet tomorrow to discuss the best course of action and file for a motion as soon as possible"

"Thank you" said Hermione

"Have a nice evening Miss Granger"

"You too Draco" she said and to both their astonishment she stepped forward and hugged him. She stepped back and saw a look of confusion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry" she muttered and turned on her heel and disappeared out of the office as quickly as she could without running. She continued to rush through The Ministry barely noticing as people said hello to her. Her heart was racing, her head was spinning. She just wanted to go somewhere safe. She just wanted to go home.

She stopped by a shop near her apartment and picked up a few bottles of white wine.

"Damn Pansy" she said as she thought back to the comment she had made about her drinking too.

She had never been a heavy drinker, and she had always pitied and frowned upon those who tried to lose themselves at the bottom of a bottle. But she wasn't trying to lose herself, she was trying to just relax. She didn't want to forget, she just wanted to ease the pain a bit.

She locked the door behind her and set about making dinner. She wasn't exactly a fantastic cook but she managed to get by. She had had to as Ron couldn't cook to save his life and if it hadn't been for her the both would have starved or eaten at Mrs Weasley's everyday.

She wasn't extremely hungry so she whipped up a quick omelette and accompanied it with a side of salad and a generous glass of wine. As she settled herself down at the table to eat, she wondered what Draco Malfoy was doing right now.

Was he currently watching her former husband bend over his wife? Did he know he was married to an unfaithful wife who didn't love him, who made love to other men in his house, whilst they drank his liquor and mocked him? She buried her head in her hands. She knew she wasn't to blame for their actions but she felt bad for what Draco would have to witness.

She let out a small hollow laugh. She, Hermione Granger, felt bad for Draco Malfoy. How times had changed over the years.

She finished her food and set about doing the dishes by hand. It was as good a distraction as any other. She felt the warm water cascade over her hands and the soap lathering up. It was quite therapeutic.

She sat back down on the sofa and poured herself another glass of wine.

She didn't like to admit it but one thing that had angered her about the whole situation was that everyone was having sex except for her. She had never been a very promiscuous woman but she had never wanted to be a celibate nun either. Somewhere in the middle would have been nice.

Casting her mind back Hermione could not remember the last time that Ron and her had had sex. It had been that long. The reason they didn't often engage in sex was because Hermione had been a bit underwhelmed by it all.

Her first time had been in the Hogwarts boys dormitory. There had been a big halloween part and her and Ron had gotten drunk on Fire Whiskey that a few other Gryffindors had smuggled in. They had made their way away from the Great Hall celebrations and up to the common room where they had escaped to Ron's four poster bed. Which she had sealed with all kinds of charms so none of the other boys could walk in or hear them in what she expected would be a long, passionate night of unforgettable love-making.

In her head she thought Ron would have kissed her slowly, passionately, unbuttoned her shirt, and move his lips down her neck, cover each part of her body, stroking her, making her feel things she had heard other girls describe in the girl's dormitory. Excitement, love, arousal. But instead it had been sloppy, awkward and very quick. Ron had then proceeded to turn over and fall asleep without so much as another word and Hermione had spent the night silently crying whilst she heard Harry and Ginny have a long passionate night in the four poster bed next to her. Her concealment charm had obviously worked and they hadn't bothered with one.

But she had put that down to it being the first time and that they both didn't have any idea what they were doing. She assumed everyone's first time must be as messy and clumsy as hers had been and that overtime it would get better. And for a while it did, when they got engaged and married they would have sex more often, more unexpectedly but never anything wild. It wasn't like them and when Hermione had asked Ron about any fantasies or even brought up the subject of sex outside the bedroom he would turn bright red and change the subject.

It had then proceeded to go downhill much like their marriage had. He had come home drunk and would either last less than three minutes or would fall asleep on top of her and Hermione had started to purposefully either feign sleep or stay up until she was sure he was asleep.

As she thought about her uneventful sex-life she realised that she had a lot of frustration that was built up inside her. She may be a bit of a prude but she was still a woman who had needs that needed to be met. Yet she had had the chance to meet those needs not that long ago, with Neville Longbottom and she hadn't taken it. Despite how handsome and muscular he'd become she just couldn't picture him in that setting. She needed to do something though.

She made her way through another four glasses of wine before she realised that she didn't need a man to blow off steam and satisfy herself. There were plenty of women out there who were single and independent and very satisfied.

She lay down on the sofa and unbuttoned her trousers and she was just slipping her hand underneath her light blue underwear when suddenly there was a loud, sudden banging on her front door.

As if she had just been electrocuted she leapt to her feet and wildly looked around her. She knew it would either be Ron or Pansy coming to scream at her for telling Draco about their sordid affair.

She straightened herself and went to the door and she was shocked to see Draco Malfoy standing at her door. He was dressed in black trousers with a crisp white shirt, the top button undone and his hair was ruffled. She met his eye and saw they were bloodshot.

"You knew" his hissed at her "this whole time you knew what was going on and you sat in front of me, asking for my help without telling me anything?!"

"Draco please" Hermione said quickly "come inside and we can…"

"And we can what?!" He spat "sulk together about how your scumbag of a husband managed to ruin two marriages in one go!?"

"I just mean that I know how you…"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" He bellowed and Hermione just wanted to pull him inside before the neighbours heard and got curious as to why she seemed to have a new visitor at her door everyday.

"Draco please!" She pleaded "just come inside"

He strode in and turned to her

"Why didn't you tell me from the beginning" he said

"Because I didn't know"

"Lies" he hissed again "you knew your husband was being unfaithful and you knew it was with my wife."

"I had no proof and I thought you wouldn't believe…"

"You know I would expect this from Potter or Weasley" he cut across her "I know they hate me and know they are immature enough to hold a grudge. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew and didn't tell me because they don't care who they hurt. But you…I thought more of you Granger"

"Since when have you thought highly of me"

"Since you were the only witch who was smarter than me, since you were the witch who made me realise all my parents pureblood rambles were nothing but a load of bollocks" he said "and out of the golden trio everyone knew you were the mature and reasonable one"

"I didn't do this to spite you" Hermione insisted "I just wanted to be sure and have proof"

"Well you showed me didn't you" said Draco letting out a bark like laugh "you showed me your husband bending over my wife in my house"

"And how do you think it made me feel" said Hermione quietly "how do you think it felt to have your wife hand me that memory vial?"

"She what" said Draco his eyes widening

"I gave her a chance to come clean to you" continued Hermione "because I thought it would be better if you heard it from her than from me. But then she gave me that memory and it felt like a slap across the face that they've been laughing at us both behind our backs"

Draco started pacing up and down

"Where is he?"

"Who?" Said Hermione confused

"Weasley"

"How on earth should I know" said Hermione bewildered

"Because you seem to have a knack at hunting down my wife and your husband"

"Well I don't know"

"DO NOT LIE TO ME"

"I said I don't know Draco!"

"Well if you don't I'm going to find out"

"Why?" Asked Hermione, pretty sure she didn't want to know the answer.

"Because I'm going to find him and torture him to an inch of his miserable life" growled Draco

"NO" said Hermione firmly

"Tell me it hasn't crossed your mind?" Said Draco standing in front of her, she could smell his woody cologne, taste his minty breath. It was intoxicating.

"Have I thought of hexing Pansy?" She said "Yes but that's not who I am. I rather file for divorce and put her and Ron in the past where they belong. They aren't worth my time and they shouldn't be worth yours either"

"So what do you suggest I do?" He whispered

"I suggest you file for two divorces, yours and mine" she whispered back "and move on with your life, the legal way, the right way"

"But where's the fun in that?" Smiled Draco and he spotted the bottles of wine Hermione had bought.

"Mind if I do?"

But before she had time to answer he had wrenched open one of them and took a long swig from it and didn't stop until the bottle was empty. He then repeated the process with another one.

"Draco calm down" said Hermione calmly placing a hand on his arm "they aren't worth this"

"First Astoria left me for some American aristocrat" he said to no one in particular "that I could accept, he wasn't a former death eater and was infinitely wealthy. But for Pansy to leave me for him. For that low life piece of scum"

"How do you think I felt" said Hermione quietly "to see my husband falling for a girl who bullied me all throughout school. Who made my life hell every chance she got"

"Yeah but your husband can't get your name out of his head" spat Draco "my wife has no problem forgetting I even exist, she has no problem letting another man into our home and when I get home at night she has no problem lying to my face and sleeping with me"

Hermione set two glasses on the table and fished out a bottle of Firewhisky she had stashed away for emergencies. This seemed like an appropriate moment. She poured two generous glasses and pushed one towards Draco who took it gratefully.

"Wait till mother hears" laughed Draco

"Pardon?" Said Hermione

"My mother loves Pansy more than she loves me" said Draco "so when she hears about this she'll blame me for being an unfit husband who is unable to keep a wife. I mean who can blame her. My record speaks for itself"

"Thats nonsense" said Hermione

"Is it?" Asked Draco "then how come women leave me every time? Am I still paying for my tainted past or am I just cursed to never be loved"

"No one is cursed to not me loved" said Hermione quietly "you just haven't found the one. At least that's what I tell myself"

"Who wouldn't want you" laughed Draco "you have nothing to worry about"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You're the smartest witch of her age, you're the golden girl, Harry Potter's best friend and not to mention you're not hard on the eyes"

"You're drunk" laughed Hermione

"Maybe" he conceited "but I'm still right. You'll find another man before you know it"

"I think I'm broken in that department"

"Care to share?" Said Draco interestedly

"It means any time a man approaches me I seize up and put up a wall. It's like Ron has cursed me to only be with him"

"You mean Ron is…"

"Yes" said Hermione rolling her eyes "he's the only man I've been with. Get the comments out of the way"

"Fool" he hissed

"What"

"I said he's a fool for having a woman like you who only ever wanted him and throwing that away" said Draco bitterly.

"Oh I'm not all I'm cracked up to be" said Hermione downing the remainder of her glass and serving them both another "I don't satisfy my husband"

"Did he satisfy you?" Asked Draco quietly

"Sort of"

"What do you mean sort off. Did he manage to satisfy you or…"

"If you're asking if I've ever had an orgasm with a man then NO" said Hermione bluntly feeling her cheeks blush.

"Fool" muttered Draco again.  
"It's late Draco" said Hermione "and we have to sort this mess out and file the motions I think we should…"

But before she could finished her sentence Draco had strode over to her and placed his hands delicately on her face and kissed her and without thinking about it, Hermione kissed him back.

"Let me show you what satisfaction really feels like" whispered Draco

Replies:

JudyGrasham: That's the problem with broken people, when you try and help them you end up getting hurt. Don't give up on Ron just yet. Maybe there is some redemption for him? Thank you for your review and hope you liked the next chapter!

MAGIUSTHEEELDER: Wow what an emotional review! Honestly I'm flattered that my story could cause such an emotional response - I understand your emotion and anger. I've been there too. Do you not think there's any chance at redemption for them? Thank you so much for your review and I hope you enjoy the next chapters even if you hate some of the characters ;-)

SonnetStar: I'm glad my chapter and story got this response and your review means a lot! I am with you on the opinion that I like Pansy, she's flawed but maybe there's a chance for her to be more. I hope you like the next chapters and would love to continue to hear your opinion!


	12. Chapter 12

**It's time for a new chapter! I wanted to take a moment again to thank you for the response that I have been receiving lately, all the reviews are amazing and the fact you are taking time out of your lives to follow this adventure means the absolute world to me; so thank you again.**

 **I mentioned this before but I am currently working in retail at a jewellers therefor as you can imagine these past months have been absolute chaos for me which is why I haven't uploaded much. I'm now trying to upload a few more chapters before the end of the year and then make a resolution to put more time aside for writing. So please bare with my this holiday season - and if you enjoy this story be sure to share it with friends, harry potter groups or anyone you can think of who would enjoy it.**

 **As always please leave your comments and reviews. I will be sure to get back to them in the next chapter.**

 **Love Always,**

 **Lumos Nox.**

Their breaths grew heavier and they continue to kiss, their bodies intertwined, Hermione could feel him against her, she felt herself react to him and she let out an involuntary moan.

"Purr for me princess" whispered Draco in her ear, nibbling on her lobe and making his way down to her neck.

"No"

Hermione felt like the Whomping Willow had just slapped her across the face. She pushed Draco away from her and repeated again.

"No"

Draco looked at her, his face bore a mixture of surprise and hurt.

"I'm sorry" he said quickly "I shouldn't have suggested that to you"

"It's just…" she started

"Please Granger" Draco said through gritted teeth "spare me the pity party and let me leave with some of dignity"

"I just…" she tried again

"I will get to work on our case" he cut across her sharply, his tone back to it's professional manner "with the proof you have given me this should be an open and shut case, no complications. I will see you Thursday and we can touch base and catch up on the situation"

"Draco please" said Hermione imploringly

But he ignored her and turned on his heel, marching out the door without another backwards glance. Hermione waved her wand and the door shut behind him, locking itself. She cast a muffling charm on it before sinking to her knees and sobbing, screams escaped her, she gave up control of her body and she crumpled to the floor. Her chest heaving until she finally dozed off into dreams filled with a nude Draco Malfoy doing things to her that had never crossed her mind before.

She woke up, she had fallen asleep on the floor in a fetal position. She got up and made her way to the kitchen.

She made her a lot cup of coffee.

She then proceeded to make herself some porridge.

She sat silently and ate her breakfast.

She then proceeded into the shower, turned it as hot as she could without physically burning herself and stepped in.

This whole morning her mind had been on auto-pilot. It had shut off because if she let her mind wonder she was scared of what she might think, what she might feel. She, Hermione Granger, had fallen asleep crying over a man who had, for many years, been her enemy. She had felt a pain in her chest she hadn't often felt over a man she thought she hated with every fibre of her being. As a highly-logical human being she came to the conclusion that she was attracted to Draco Malfoy.

The very thought of that made her stomach tie up in an uncomfortable knot.

"Don't be stupid" she told herself "you just need a man to satisfy your needs"

She stood in the shower and thought about it. She had indeed been on the verge of pleasuring herself before Draco had barged in and then she had proceeded to get drunk with him. It must have all been a mix of emotions that had turned into one sloppy messy scenario.

She decided to try and find a solution to her thoughts about Draco.

Standing on her toes she unhooked the head of the shower and leaned back onto the shower wall, feeling the cold tiles against her back. She widened her stance and aimed the powerful shower head between her legs and suddenly felt it massaging, what she assumed was, her clitoris in a way she had never felt before. She moaned softly, the pleasure was like a soft hum growing inside her. She fought to keep her mind empty and concentrate on the growing pleasure that was building up inside her. She reached down and started moving her fingers in a circular motion, adding to the pleasure.

She knew she was close.

And a split second before she came a soft voice came into her mind

"Purr for me princess"

And she exploded and let out an involuntary "Draco" as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, she slid down the shower wall onto the floor as she continued to moan.

And then came the serene, calm, quiet satisfaction as she sat there breathing deeply.

She then got up, hooked the shower head back on, washed herself thoroughly and stepped out deciding she had to get ready for work. She had plenty of time before she had to set off so she decided to make a bit of an effort for once, because the other option was to sit and wonder why Draco's voice had popped into her mind whilst she was masturbating in the shower, and that was a subject she was not ready to explore quite yet.

She pulled out a black, body hugging sweater dress that was perfect for the chilly weather. She then headed back into the bathroom and took her time styling her hair into loose curls as well as putting extra effort into her makeup. In fact she even managed a winged eyeliner look which was quite an achievement for her. Finally she put on a pearl necklace her mother had given her years ago for her sixteenth birthday. She looked up and was taken aback at how good she looked. She dug out some thigh-high boots and a long dusty pink coat.

On her way to work she decided to treat herself to a warm cappuccino and strode through London observing people on the street, wondering if anyone felt truly as lost and confused as she did.

When she got in her boss was off thankfully but there was a note on her desk that read

MISS H. GRANGER

It was written in beautiful dark emerald ink. She opened the note and read quickly.

Miss Granger,

I wish to express my sincerest apologies about my behaviour that took place last night.  
I believe that in light of recent events it may be better for me to refer you to another lawyer as I do not wish to make your case anymore complicated than it is.  
I am glad to meet you today at 12:00 at the location where we had lunch to discuss your case so I can direct you towards an other lawyer and advice you on the next steps.

Yours Faithfully,

D. Malfoy

Hermione re-read the note over a few more times as the words sunk in. Her jaw dropped and her stomach sank. She felt tears threatening her edges of her eyes. Because of a few drinks her divorce was now up in the air and she was uncertain whether she would ever finally be rid of Ron and Pansy. Because of a few drinks the man her subconscious kept on bringing up didn't want to be anywhere near her.

She would have to go to the lunch and see what was happening. See if there was any way she could at least salvage the case so that she could finally be free from her demons.

Time has an annoying habit of slowing down when you are desperate for an event to occur, and Hermione noticed that as she checked the watch of her wrist every so often only to notice that barely any time had passed. She tried to push the thought of lunch with Draco out of her mind by concentrating on work, however this only resulted in her re-reading the same paragraphs over and over again, and writing sentences that made no sense. And for the first time ever, Hermione was able to think about nothing else but a man.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, 11:45 came around and she got up and made her way to the quaint little French café where they had had lunch together what seemed like a life-time ago. A little bell went off as she walked through the door and a waitress seemed to materialise out of thin air and said

"Miss Granger?"

Taken a back it took Hermione a minute to respond.

"Yes… How did you..?"

"Mr Malfoy awaits you, he made sure to book you a quiet booth where you will not be disrupted"

And before Hermione could ask anymore questions the waitress set off and Hermione found herself following her into a back room that was slightly more somber than the rest but had beautiful red accents and thousands of tiny candles floating across the air, giving it a warm glow whilst the soft melody of a piano filled the air. She was led into a secluded booth where Draco Malfoy sat.

Hermione passed her coat to the waitress who gave her a small bow before retreating and leaving them alone. She slid into the booth across from Malfoy and they sat in silence for a minute. For two individualsI who were so opinionated it seemed neither of them knew how to start a conversation anymore.

"You look very nice today Miss Granger" said Draco softly looking up at her.

This was all it took to spark something inside of Hermione.

"Back to the formalities I see" she said cold as she unfolded the scarlet napkin and placed it on her lap.

"Pardon?" Draco looked taken aback at her cold tone.

"What I mean is that a few hours ago, you had my tongue down my throat and suddenly you're acting like I'm a complete strange" she hissed at him

"Miss Granger" he said calmly "I want to again, apologise for my behaviour last night. We were both intoxicated and hurt and…"

"It mean nothing did it?" Asked Hermione her eyes turning into slits

"It can't mean anything" Draco corrected her

"And why is that" laughed Hermione "because I'm a filthy little mudblood and is the press caught wind of this then you would be shamed for life"

"Don't you ever refer to yourself in that manor" growled Draco dangerously and Hermione felt a shiver run down her spine.

"What I meant is that it can't" he continue "because we both have cases we need to win and if anyone caught wind of our indiscretion this could ruin both of those cases. That is a very big price to pay for something so insignificant"

Hermione wasn't sure what is was she was feeling but it hurt like hell. But she would be damned if Draco Malfoy would see her cry.

"Well" she started clearing her throat "since it was such an insignificant discretion then I suggest you continue my case until the end" she said

"I don't think…"

"If it was an emotional affair then I agree it would be highly unprofessional" she continued "but since it was just something that occurred because we were both intoxicated then there is no risk of anything happening again"

"Ms Granger I…"

"No Mr Malfoy" she cut across him "I insist you see my case through till the end, if necessary I will pay double your fee. I want the best lawyer and that is you. Have I made myself clear Mr Malfoy?"

"Crystal" he said and there seemed to be something that resembled sadness in his eyes but he blinked and it was gone. Maybe she had just imagine it Hermione thought to herself.

"Would you care to join me for lunch then?" He said quietly

"Yes I think we should discuss how we can file and end this case as soon as possible" said Hermione curtly.

They made very short talk over lunch and agreed that Draco would proceed to file the motion this afternoon and that hopefully by Monday Hermione would be officially single. Or more accurately, divorcé.

"What about you?" Asked Hermione as they drank a coffee after their meal.

"What do you mean?" Draco responded. He was not longer making eye contact, instead he was absentmindedly tracing the edge of his cup with his ring finger where his wedding band was no more.

"What are you going to do about you situation?" Hermione clarified

"I will file mine at the same time as yours " he said quietly "Two birds, one stone and all that"

"That's efficient" said Hermione "Well I look forward to hearing from you with the news of my divorce. I need to get by to work Mr a good day"

She took Draco's curt nod as a goodbye so we got up, grabbed her bag and headed out the door as she made it halfway down the street she heard a voice call.

"Ms Granger?" Hermione spun around and saw the little mousey-haired waitress run towards her with her coat.

"You forgot your coat Ms Granger" she panted

"Oh I'm sorry I…"

"It's no problem. Have a pleasant day Ms Granger" she smiled and jogged back to the café. Hermione watched her go. For a moment she had hoped that it had been Draco who had called her back, for what she did not know but a part of her wished he would just speak to her like more than an acquaintance.

"Insignificant indiscretion" the words echoed through her head over and over again. Louder and louder.

The rest of the day also dragged by and by the time work was finished all that Hermione wanted was to end the week with a bottle of wine. Since she had made an effort she decided to make her way to the Leakey Cauldron. Hannah wasn't on a shift today so Hermione ordered from a rosey-cheeked plump witch and sat in the corner observing all the witches and wizards finish their jobs and come in for a drink to mark the end of the week. It was quite therapeutic to sit and watch other go about their evenings, some couples coming in, faces red from the cold holding hands and chattering to each other about their day. Others marched in with friends, laughing about a joke one of them had told.

In that moment Hermione smiled. She had always loved the season leading up to Christmas; it always brought out the best in everyone in her opinion. But this year would be the first year she would send Christmas alone.

She didn't mind this. At least she was ending the year the way she was hoping to start off the new one; as a new independent woman.

"Hermione?" She looked up and saw Neville standing there in a baby-blue shirt with the top button undone and his sleeves rolled up. His hair was ruffled and he looked, Hermione had to admit, very handsome.

"Neville" she smiled at him "how are you?"

"Knackered" he said truthfully "may I?" He pointed towards the seat

"Yes of course" said Hermione quickly "what are you having? Wine? Butterbeer? Firewhiskey?"

"I'll have Firewhiskey please" he replied gratefully as he sat down "it's been a long week"

"Anything important going on in the world of aurors?" Asked Hermione as she returned with a glass of wine for her and a Firewhiskey for Neville.

"There's always something going on" he replied "but it's importance is debatable"

Hermione laughed "I know the feeling, my boss is an absolute useless git"

"Aren't they all" said Neville winking and Hermione laughed "Harry being that tough on you all?"

"Not really" said Neville and when Hermione looked at him curiously he continue "Listen 'Mione the last few days Ron hasn't been at work so a lot of us have been picking up his slack so that Harry doesn't get in trouble for favouring his best friend"

"What you mean he hasn't been in work" Hermione enquired curiously "has he said why"

"Dunno if he's told Harry why" shrugged Neville "but the rest of us are none the wiser and between you and me, everyone's a bit fed up of picking up the mess the puppy made"

"He's not bad at what he does" said Hermione slightly defensively

"Because you and Harry trained him up to be" said Neville frowning " Hermione, we're all smart enough to know that out of you three, Ron was the nice guy but not the exceptionally talented one"

"He's not useless" she said and started wondering why on earth she was still defending her former husband.

"Harry was the fighter, you were the brains and Ron was the funny one" said Neville "that was just the roles in your friendship group"

"I've never been too fond of labels" Hermione muttered darkly

"At least you weren't the useless chubby kid growing up" said Neville winking at her

"No I was the bushy-haired buck—toothed girl. Much better"

They both sat and laughed.

"At least we showed them" he said

"Yeah soon to be divorced from the one man I've been with and all alone - I sure showed them!"

"But isn't slightly reassuring to think that your best days are ahead of you?" He asked gently

"That's very deep talk for an auror, aren't you all suppose to be tough?" Teased Hermione

"Well lets see how long I last at the ministry" said Neville darkly

"What do you mean?"

"Well professor Sprout is thinking of retiring at the end of the school year so she's offered the Herbology post to me and… I don't know Hermione I feel like it might be the right call for me"

"That's amazing!" Said Hermione "does Harry know?"

"Not yet I didn't want to tell him with all the stress and pressure he has with Ron right now"

"Understandable" she nodded and made to get up

"I'll get the next round" said Neville quickly "you've been kind enough to listen to my moaning"

They continued drinking and chatting. It was natural and there wasn't any tension between them. Hours passed by and their conversation became more animated as the alcohol continued flowing.

A magical bell echoed through the Leakey Cauldron indicating last round of drinks and they both looked at their watches and saw it was nearing half one in the morning.

"I should get going"

"Let me walk you?" Offered Neville

"Thanks" she smiled as he helped her with her coat and they made their way out of the bar and walked down the dark streets of London.

"So what's your new years resolution?" Said Neville as they came into view of her block of flats.

"To not be so prude" laughed Hermione "I need to live a little"

"Well why wait until the new year for that" said Neville winking and they both stopped and looked at each other.

A thousand thoughts of why this was not a good idea bombarded Hermione's mind but she hushed the voices. She always did this, and where had it gotten her? Alone and divorced. The man she fantasied about didn't want anything to do with her, her husband was shacking up with her childhood bully and honestly the only person who wasn't running away from her was Neville.

Neville's cheeks flushed and said "I was joking… I'm sorry"

"Don't be" whispered Hermione.

She grabbed him and pulled him down a small alleyway she usually used to disparate.

"Don't you live over…" started Neville confused.

"Do you trust me?" And she lead him down to where they were hidden away from the main road. She took out her road muttered a disillusionment charm and turned to him.

"'Mione what are you?"

"Living on the wild side" she breathed and leaned against a wall and pulled him against her.

Her mouths met and they started kissing passionately. Neville groaned and kissed her neck and instinctively she arched her back, she felt the hum start inside her, warm and welcoming. She felt Neville pulsing against her and she found herself wrapping a leg around him and grinding on him and she saw his eyes roll back.

She didn't know what possessed her but she pushed him back and proceeded to remove her laced black underwear before hitching up her dress a little and looked at him, they didn't need to talk she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around him and pushed her against the wall. She fumbled with his belt and trousers and pulled them down, releasing his hard dick and she positioned it at her entrance. They made eye-contract for a second and she tightened her legs around him, forcing him into her. The both moaned unanimously.

Neville buried his head in her hair, moaning as he thrusting into her. Hermione leaned back, her hips rocking back and forward, riding every inch of him. The hum was getting louder insider her and she gripped his back harder.

But before she reached her climax Neville groaned loudly and said "I'm cumming" and she felt him empty himself inside her. He tried to catch his breath his head still burred in her curly hair and she looked up at the night sky fighting back tears. This felt wrong but she didn't want him to know that she thought of him as a big mistake.

"You're amazing" he whispered in her ear as he kissed her neck.

"Thank you" she said before quickly adding "you too"

He put her down and made sure she looked presentable again.

"Are you ok?" He asked gently

"Just tired" she whispered as the left the alleyway and continued the walk towards the blocks of apartments.

"Listen" he said gently as they reached the front gates "I don't want you to over-think this"

"What do you mean?" Stopping to look at him

"I know I'm probably not going to be your end-game" he whispered gently "I know you're still healing and more likely this was just something you had to get out of your system"

She didn't answer. She couldn't bare to look at him because she knew if she made eye contact she'd burst into tears. She had wanted to come across as a sexy, fun, independent woman not a sad, confused mess.

"Even if it was just a one-time thing you had to get out of your system, I'm honoured you chose me Hermione" he leaned forward and kissed her gently "take care of yourself and know I'm always an owl away"

She buried herself in his arms and hugged him tight, taking in his comforting smell and strong embrace.

"You really are an amazing man Neville Longbottom" she said looking up at him, her eyes shinning with tears "you're going to make a woman very happy one day"

She hugged him again and set off towards her apartment, tears streaming down her face and Neville looked on at her disappear.

She got into her flat and started stripping as she headed towards the shower, tears continuing to cascade down her face. She fumbled with the shower, her hands shaking. When she finally managed to turn it on she sat on the shower floor crying.

Neville was a perfectly respectable man, he was handsome, kind and caring and by no means a bad lover. Yet there was nothing there, no chemistry, no fireworks, no waves of pleasure. Was she just suppose to spend her life like this; either screwing up her life or other people's?

She continued to cry openly. Her arms wrapped around her legs and her head buried in her knees. She truly felt alone, like she was free falling and no one was there to catch her. She had always been surrounded by friends and family, she felt so small in such a big world. It may be filled with opportunities but at that moment all that felt much too daunting, all she wanted was someone to tell her everything would be ok in the end.


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm back! If you're still here, thank you for your patience and for following this story. As someone working in retail the summer sales have taken over and life has a tendency to get in the way. I know I say this constantly but I will be making more of an effort to put more time and effort into this story as the characters and story are something I am very attached to. It would mean the world to me if you let me know your thoughts on the story and the chapter and I will make sure to publish the reviews and answers in the next chapter. Also and I always feel very cheeky asking this, but if you enjoy the story share it in fan-fiction groups, on social media and amongst friends so that it gets read, because as a writer it is a massive motivation to see your work shared and pushes us to write more and maybe I could get someone to proof read which would save me time and get me to write more.**

 **All my love, always.**

 **Lumos Nox**

The next weekend was a bit of a blur. Not due to anything else then the fact that depression and anxiety were clouding Hermione's mind. She spent the days locked in her flat, not bothering to change or bathe, just lying on the sofa watching the hours pass by, her mind blank and her stomach in uncomfortable knots over scenarios her brain hadn't even thought about.

The thing about break-ups is that they are a contradiction of emotions. Part of Hermione knew that she was doing the right thing and that nothing good could have come out of continuing to fight for a failed marriage. But the other half of her felt broken every time she realised that all those years loving, caring and growing alongside someone had been for nothing.

She didn't know whether everyone did the same thing or whether it was only her, but ever since she had thought about her future, Hermione had had a timeline set out for herself.

Meet a nice boy: **Check!**

Fall in love: **Check!**

Have sex: **Check!**

Move in together: **Check!**

Get a full-filling job: _Debatable!_

Get married: **Check!**

Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she thought back to the beginning of their relationship when they use to stay up until the early hours of the morning under the sheets after sex, talking about what seemed like a certain future. They had discussed what their wedding would look like, what their first dance would be, what their children would look like. Hermione sobbed loudly into a cushion. She knew she was still young but the vision of settling down and having a family seemed impossible. She would end up a lonely, career obsessed woman who's vagina would grow cobwebs from lack of intimacy and her only company would be her colleagues and pets. She would live alone, grow old and die alone.

She got up to go to the bathroom to wash her face from all the sobbing and snot and caught sight of herself in the mirror. She gasped in horror as she saw the reflection of herself. Her eyes were puffed up, her skin was pink and blotched, her nose raw and red and she couldn't tell if the dark blue circles under her eyes were from mascara or exhaustion. She scrambled to her drawer and pulled out a pepper-up potion, she placed her hands on either side of the sink and took deep breaths.

This was it, she told herself, the moment in the films and the books where the protagonist realises she has hit rockbottom and that there is only one way from here. The problem is that in all of those stories that character seems to know instinctively what the next steps are. Hermione on the other hand had no idea. All she knew is that she needed time to figure it out. Determinately she strode over to her drawer, pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and explained to her boss that she would not be in work the next week. She pulled out her wand, flicked it so that the parchment transfigured itself into a paper bird, she flicked it again and the little bird took flight out of the window.

She sat back down. The hard part of letting go of her responsibilities was done, she now had an entire week where she didn't have to worry about stress from work, her divorce or seeing anyone who might bring up mixed up feelings.

She suddenly she had an idea, it was crazy, completely ludicrous. But it may just work and it may just be exactly what she needed. She dug out her cellphone and dialled, hoping that the other end would pick up.

"Hello?"

"Ginny?"

"'Mione you okay?" Asked Ginny worriedly

"I think I am" said Hermione "listen, by any chance do you have any plans this week coming up?"

"No…I mean I have work but"

"Take the week off" said Hermione quickly "please Ginny I need this"

"Hermione are you ok" asked Ginny again "what is going on"

"Take the week off, pack a bag for a week and stay with me Gin" said Hermione "I need my sister"

"Hermione…" said Ginny "you know what, ok, I'll get ready and come over to yours tonight. Merlin only knows what is going through your mind but I guess I'll come over and see"

"Thank you Ginny" said Hermione

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"You're not trying to make me your next wife are you?" Laughed Ginny

"Shut up and get your ass over here" laughed Hermione.

She put down the phone and found her laptop. She found her bag, pulled out her muggle debit-card and pulled out her laptop. After half an hour of searches and organisation Hermione had booked two return tickets to Paris for the week. The idea of strolling the streets of one of the most beautiful cities on earth with her best friend was exactly what she needed. Her stomach sank slightly as she remembered that her and Ron had planned on going to Paris together as newly-weds. It had been one of those plans that they had always been too busy to sit down and make come true.

She brushed away the tears that threatened her eyes, she picked up her cell-phone again and messaged Ginny

"Looks like it's going to be a warm week, pack accordingly

See you soon!"

She received a message back less than a minute later

"Are you sure you're not trying to get me out of my clothes Mione?

See you soon hun"

Hermione chuckled and got to work packing her bag. She dug out all the dresses, bags, underwear and sunglasses she had bought over the years but never found an occasion to wear. She wanted to feel her best for herself, not for anyone, and certainly not for any man.

An hour later there was a sharp knock on her door and she found Ginny standing in the doorway, a massive duffle bag and a confused look on her face.

"Ginny!" Said Hermione and tears started filling up her eyes again "I've missed you so…" but before she could get the words out Ginny had dropped her bag and was hugging Hermione tightly.

"I'm sorry I've been a rubbish friend" she said in a muffled voice "I just was trying to be fair to my family and… Oh Hermione I'm sorry!"

"It's ok" said Hermione brushing away the tears and smiling at her "I've got an amazing week planned out"

"What I don't understand" said Ginny stepping into the apartment "is why you asked me to spend a week at yours, yet you have a bag packed too?"

"Ok so hear me out" said Hermione excitedly clapping her hands together "I thought, I need to get away from everything at home so why not have a girl's week with my best friend, and what better place to do that then… PARIS"

Ginny's mouth dropped "Paris, as in France, Paris?"

Hermione nodded and both girls squealed excitedly. They spent the rest of the evening getting the last bits and bobs ready, painting each others nails, doing facial peels and face masks and drinking rosé.

The next day an alarm went off at five in the morning and looking very fresh faced, but very bushy tailed the two girls got ready in silence, Ginny made them both a strong cup of coffee with Hermione buttered a few slices of toast. Still in silence they got into a taxi and hurtled towards the airport, passed through security with a few concealment charms to hide any magical devices and before they knew it they were both sat in a plane, landing at Charles De Gaulle Airport.

A few hours after that they finally stepped out of their taxi into the Parisian sunlight as they stood in front of their hotel. They quickly checked into their room and Ginny gasped.

"Oh Hermione look at this view!"

Hermione joined her onto the balcony and peered down the long road where the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower stood against a perfectly blue sky.

"How did you find this place in a matter of hours?" Said Ginny wide eyed

"Well" said Hermione shifting her weight from one foot to another uncomfortably "this was the hotel I always imagined staying at when Ron and I talked about coming to Paris. I thought I'd never have a reason to book a week here but…"

"But you finally realised that men come and go and friendships last forever" Ginny cut across her before she got too emotional "at least you came with the right Weasley!"

Hermione laughed "lets get ready and go for some lunch!"

They unpacked their bags and Ginny dressed in a summer dress that was baby blue with white polkadots, large glasses holding her long hair back like a headband and a pair of white wedges on her feet. Hermione opted for a flowery, flowing number and a pair of dainty flats.

"Allez!" Called Hermione excitedly grabbing her bag "lets go!"

And the two girls set off, arms linked chatting away whilst taking in all the expensive stores, beautiful views and melodic sounds of people conversing in French. They settled for a little café on the Champs Elysées which was overpriced but they justified it with 'when in Paris'.

"Would you like some champagne mes demoiselles?" Asked the waiter as the two girls dug into some savoury pancakes.

"Oui!" Giggled Hermione but Ginny placed her hand over her glass

"No thank you" she said smiling "I feel a bit sick from the flight still. Not sure I'll ever get use to those damn planes"

They continued to chat and people watch. Hermione wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and walk along the Seine with ice - cream. Ginny wanted to shop in all the exclusive Parisian stores, eat their way through all the delicious bakeries in the city as well as visit the wizarding area of the city.

"But today" said Hermione "we are getting ourselves in the mindset we need for the rest of the week, zen and calm"

"What?" Said Ginny stuffing the last bit of her waffle in her mouth, her cheeks bulging.

"Follow me" and she grabbed her friend and giggling still she waved down a taxi and they set off. Ginny still looked a bit green and Hermione asked her if she was sure that she was feeling ok.

"I think the travel and the food hasn't agreed with me" said Ginny weakly her hands on her stomach.

The drive only took about fifteen minutes and Hermione thanked all the gods that Ginny had managed to keep her food down. They both made their way into a white, clean building that when they stepped inside smelt of Lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus, all together into a calming concoction of smells. A calms French woman with long black hair and a placid expression took Hermione's name and led the two ladies into a changing room whether two white fluffy white robes awaited them.

"What is this?" Said Ginny

"This is a SPA" said Hermione excitedly "it's suppose to calm you and make you feel brand new, you'll see"

"Oh I've read about these in muggle magazines" said Ginny excitedly as she shimmied out of her clothes and slipped into the bathrobe.

Hermione got into hers too, and groaned, it felt like she had slipped into a warm, fluffy cloud.

The two girls proceeded to get full body massages, by two muscular French men who were as easy on the eyes as they were on all the other senses. This was followed by a facial and then an appointment at the hair salon where they got their hair trimmed and blow dried.

By the time they left the sun was setting on the city and they rushed back to the hotel to get changed for their dinner in a central Italian restaurant that Hermione had found. They ate their body weight in pasta and lasagna and spoke about their lives.

"So what next?" Said Ginny as she took a sip of sparkling water, her face was now glowing and her eyes bright.

"What do you mean?"

"After this getaway, what happens then?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead" said Hermione "but I'm thinking maybe it's time for big changes. Maybe a new flat, new job"

"What about men?" Said Ginny "you're not going to be a lonely workaholic your whole life"

"Honestly, I don't know. I need to heal from this and I can't see myself with anyone else"

"Well sometimes they pop up at the most unexpected times and places" said Ginny "listen, I know that Ron and Pansy hurt you, and maybe I'm being insensitive and it's too soon to bring it up, but at the end of the day isn't it better to find love even in an unexpected place than to lie, cheat all just to not break your partners heart?"

Hermione took a sip of wine and thought it all through, "The truth is" she said thoughtfully "I don't mind that he fell out of love with me, I can't be angry at what he felt, because we can't control love or affection. What hurt me most is the lack of communication and honesty. The reason why we fell in love was because we were inseparable, we told each other everything no matter how silly, or farfetched it sounded." Her voice trailed off and he looked out the window where she gazed onto the busy Parisian street.

"I'm sorry I brought it up" said Ginny hanging her head over her tiramisu "It's just hard you know, from the first day of school I felt like you and Harry were family and then we all turned into family. I just miss it, the evenings in the garden at the burrow, the memories, the milestones. Now at any event I'll have to decide whether I want my brother or my best friend there and I just…" she started crying silently, tears streamed down her face and her shoulders shook slightly.

"Oh Ginny" said Hermione reaching over and taking hold of her hand across the table "It's not all lost. I would love to be friends with Ron again. But we are both hurt and we both hurt each other, we need time to heal and be happy with our own lives before we are happy for each others happiness. But neither of us are going anywhere and neither of us will miss any important milestones. You can always count on me…"

She gave Ginny's hand a tight squeeze and looked up at her best friend. She was wiping the tears away and straightening herself up,

"Are you sure you're ok Gin?" Asked Hermione softly "you seem to have a lot on your mind lately"

"Oh I always have a lot on my mind" laughed Ginny "not only do I overthink for myself, I overthink for everybody else as well. My mind's a bit of a crowded place."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Said Hermione "You know you can trust me with anything"

"There's nothing going on 'Mione, if there was you'd be the first to know" said Ginny.

The girls looked at each other and then Ginny looked at her watch.

"I'm beat, we should get to bed so we can have a full day tomorrow"

"Are you sure you don't want to go find a bar and have a few more drinks?" Said Hermione frowning "it's still early and we're only in Paris once…"

"That sounds great but maybe another night. I'm too tired"

Hermione was going to continue talking but Ginny got up and grabbed her bag and coat. Hermione followed suit and followed her out of the restaurant and the two girls hailed another taxi. The drive back was quiet but in the back of her mind Hermione knew that something was wrong with her best friend.

The taxi skidded to a halt in front of the hotel and they retreated to their room, that uncomfortable silence still hanging in the air like an ominous cloud. They were sharing the same room but their were two separate beds placed at Hermione's request when she had made the reservation. Silently Ginny took her shoes off and flopped onto the bed for a second before standing upright and racing to the bathroom.

"Gin..?" Hermione started but she was cut short by the sound of Ginny being violently sick.

"Ginny!" She repeated and rushed towards the bathroom but the door was locked and in-between sobs and being sick Ginny had managed to place a muffiliato charm on the door.

"Ginny don't make me unlock this door" cried Hermione "please let me help"

After a few seconds of silence there was a small click and the door creaked open. Hermione stepped in hesitantly and saw Ginny crumpled next to the toilet, her hair in disarray and her face blotched and tears streaming down her face, she was shaking. She raised her head, her dazzling blue eyes bloodshot. She reminded Hermione of Ginny in her first-year of Hogwarts, that frightened, insecure little girl who did not know what was happening to her.

Wordlessly, Hermione sat on the floor next to her and wrapped her arm around her, Ginny stopped shivering and rested her head on Hermione's shoulder. After a few minutes of silence, deep breaths and taking in each other company Ginny spoke, in a small, scared voice.

"I don't know what's happening to me 'Mione…I'm scared"

"You probably just have a little bug from the travel and food it's…"

"You don't get it" Ginny interrupted "it's not just been today. The last weeks I've been feeling run-down, I've been ill and I just snap at anything. I don't know what's wrong with me and my body? What if I'm really ill Hermione? Harry's had enough pain and stress to deal with and if something's wrong with me, that could break him" she put her head in her hands again and burst into a fresh set of tears.

"Ginny calm down" said Hermione gently "let's think about this rationally. There is a very small chance that this is something serious so let's forget about that for a minute. From what you're telling me it doesn't sound like you're ill as such…"

"What do you mean?" Said Ginny wiping the tears from her eyes and looking at Hermione, a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh come on Gin!" Said Hermione exasperatedly "you're a smart girl, if I told you I felt run down, nauseous and hormonal what would you say?"

"I'm not pregnant" said Ginny shortly "I take my potions, I am careful and responsible about it, so don't start with you far-fetched smart-ass theories" she got up and went over to splash cold water on her pale face and started brushing her teeth.

"You know damn-well those potions don't work all the time, slip ups happen, missing one can happen, other medication can render them useless, being ill can cancel their affects" Hermione stood behind her as she watched Ginny use mouth wash and place her hands on the side of the sink.

"Hermione?" She asked her eyes closed

"Yes?"

"Are you a healer?"

"Pardon?"

"Are. You. A. Healer?" She repeated slowly, her voice filled with venom

"No…but…"

"That's what I thought, so do me a favour and don't spew shit acting like you know everything just because everyone else seems to think you're the smartest witch in Britain" Ginny said turning around her face red with rage and her eyes ablaze "because from where I'm standing you're not that smart. In fact you might be the most stupid person I've met. You cause chaos in your life and weep at how hard it all is. Well guess what, life's hard and just because you've had it all placed on a silver platter and handed to you doesn't mean you're better than us."

"Ginny you don't mean any of that"

"No! You just can't believe my brother didn't want to be with the smartest witch of her age, the golden princess, the saviour of the wizarding world. You can't believe a Weasley left you! You can't believe you're not having a family so you're making up this bullshit to get my hopes up so I can be as fucking miserable as you!"

"Ginny please stop" Hermione whimpered her eyes filling with tears

"Here come the fucking waterworks" Ginny rolled her eyes "and you bring me out here, away from my family to try and fix the broken pieces of your fucked up life"

"I'm going to go" said Hermione picking up her bag and coat "and I'm going to let you calm down because I know you don't mean any of this. I am here for you Ginny but just because you're scared doesn't mean you get to treat me like shit"

"Piss off then" said Ginny, stripping out of her clothes and getting into her pyjamas.

Hermione headed out and within minutes was walking down the street. Her head bowed down against the night and her mind racing. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing but she couldn't keep still. After half an hour of wandering around aimlessly she felt her phone buzz in her bag. She pulled it out and saw Ginny's name on the screen. She swiped open the message and read.

"Hermione I'm sorry. You were right I didn't mean what I said. I don't know what is happening to me and I'm scared.

Love you always

Your sister"

Hermione felt a tear trickle down her cheek and she knew what she had to do. She started walking again. This time with purpose. And after fifteen minutes of wondering and her limited French skills she found a 24-hour pharmacy. She searched the shelves and found what she was looking for within minutes.

"Bingo" she whispered as she grabbed a handful of pregnancy tests. In the corner of her eye she though she saw a flash of light, she swivelled around, her hand in her bag, clutching her wand. But there was no-one there. She quickly paid and headed out. Again, a flash of light in the corner of her eye and a loud crack. She looked around again, her mind racing but there was no one to be seen. Not wanting to take any chances she waved down a taxi and found herself back the hotel within minutes.

When she walked in she found Ginny curled in bed, her still red from crying and a pleading expression on her face.

"Hermione I'm so sorry, I just saw red. I had no excuse to say any of that. It was untrue and it was cruel."

Hermione removed her shoes and her coat and sat on the bed next to her.

"It's ok" she said placing her arm around her best friend and giving her a squeeze.

"No it's not and I want to know what I can do to make it up to you"

"Well…" Hermione said quietly "I did get these" and she pulled the pregnancy tests out of her bag.

"What in Merlin's name are those?" Said Ginny her eyes wide and confused

"Muggle pregnancy tests" said Hermione cooly "they still do the same job, just a bit slower and less accurate"

"Ok… But Hermione I'm not pregnant" said Ginny "I cant be"

"Then there's no harm in taking one" she said unwrapping one and handing it to her

Ginny took it, looked at Hermione and back at the test

"So… What to I do, put it in my mouth?"

"It's a pregnancy test not a thermometer" said Hermione "you pee on the end and wait a few minutes"  
"Sorry we all didn't grow up with muggle parents" muttered Ginny going to the bathroom

Hermione waited and then Ginny called out "ok now what?"

Hermione walked in the bathroom, place the cap back on, and place it on the side.

"And now?"

"Now we wait"

Hermione put a five minute timer on her phone and they sat on the bed waiting. Time has a strange way of going slowly when you're impatient, as if the clocks decide to slow down and time starts to stand still. Hermione didn't know what to say and Ginny had her knees up to her chin, rocking backwards and forwards, her eyes fixed on the wall.

After what seemed like an eternity Hermione's alarm went off and they got up. Ginny walked into the bathroom and Hermione couldn't hear anything.

"So?" Said Hermione cautiously, making her way to the bathroom.

"I can't look" said Ginny quietly "you look"

"Ginny I think"

"Please just look for me and tell me. I can't bring myself to do it because I don't know how I'll react when I see what it says"

Hermione walked over and picked up the pregnancy test and turned it over.

"it's negative isn't it" said Ginny "I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have gone along with your stupid idea"

"Ginny" said Hermione seriously "look"

She walked over the Ginny and placed the test in her hand. There in bold letters read the words

 **Pregnant**

 _ **How do you think Ginny will react? What do you think happens next? As always leave me reviews and comments and I'll publish and answer them in the next chapter. I know I say this every chapter but the next chapter will follow shortly.**_

 _ **All my love,**_

 _ **Lumos Nox**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello readers I'm back with chapter fourteen! This one contains talk of a sexual nature. So if that isn't your cup of tea avert your eyes. Last chapter I did not receive much feedback so please let me know what you think of the story so far and if you enjoy please share it, it helps with motivation and let's me know that you still want to continue this wild journey with our beloved characters and what directions you'd like to see it take.**

 **PS I edited this chapter after publishing it yesterday as I was not happy with the ending. It was very out of character and a turn of events that did not make sense with the characters and their behaviour. I hope you understand and appreciate that.**

 **As always, all my love.**

 **Lumos Nox.**

The two girls stood there in the bathroom looking at the pregnancy test. Neither seemed to know how to react nor what to say. Ginny's eyes were wide in disbelief and Hermione knew she had to break the silence between them. She placed her arm around her and felt Ginny shaking.

"Ginny are you ok?" She said softly, squeezing her shoulder but Ginny wasn't answering, she was standing there as if she'd been petrified. Hermione stood in front of her, took the test out of her hands and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Ginny it's going to be ok" she said firmly as Ginny lifted her eyes and looked into Hermione's.

"Hermione what do I do?" She said quietly, tears threatening the brim of her eyes.

"We'll figure it out" said Hermione smiling at her encouragingly "when we get home we'll get you to a healer, tell Harry and take it from there"

"Harry" groaned Ginny placing her head in her hands

"It is his isn't it?" Said Hermione

"Of course it is" snapped Ginny "but how the hell am I going to tell him? How the hell is he going to react to this!?"

"I think you'd be surprised at how Harry will react" said Hermione earnestly "I know him and all he's ever wanted is a family of his own"

"Yes, later on, not now! We aren't prepared!" She wailed and fell to her knees sobbing "what if he freaks out Hermione, what if it's all over?"

Hermione knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her earnestly "honestly one thing I do know is that Harry Potter will not leave you over this Ginny, he has loved you since you were both children and this isn't going to change that. He may be scared and nerve out but whatever happens he will be there for you every step of the way"

"You promise?" Ginny sniffled looking up at her.

"I promise Gin" she said "come on, lets get you to bed"

And that night both girls snuggled into the same bed and Hermione held her best friend until she finally felt her breathing slow down, and both girls drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next morning Hermione woke up before Ginny and quietly ordered breakfast. As she was setting everything up on the balcony, a drowsy Ginny appeared.

"Morning" she said in a sleepy voice as she yawned and rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust them to the morning light.

"How are you feeling today?" Said Hermione as she handed her a milky cup of tea. Ginny took it gratefully and let out a soft moan as the sweet tea hit her lips.

"Better" she said honestly as she sat down in her white, fluffy dressing gown and ran her finger along the rim of her mug, "I feel much more at peace knowing what is going on with my body"

"Well I think congratulations are in order" said Hermione smiling and lifting her own mug.

Ginny laughed and then said seriously, "Hermione this has to stay between us for now, promise me?"

"Of course" said Hermione "but today we are having a girls day out and making the most of Paris" she gestured to the beautiful view in front of them.

"On one condition" interjected Ginny, ripping a piece of croissant apart and popped it into her mouth "no baby talk"

"Deal" said Hermione as she bit into a pain-au-chocolat and the two girls filled up on breakfast and made plans for the day ahead.

After getting ready and dressed the two girls jumped into a cab and headed off to the wizarding area of Paris. Ginny and Hermione spent their day popping in and out of stores, taking in the sunshine, walking the cobbled streets of wizarding Paris and eating their body-weight in French pastries. They then came across a bizarre establishment, the facade was an array of bright colours, and enchanted stars twinkled even in bright daylight.

"What is that?" Said Hermione puzzled. She couldn't see any name or indication of what was inside the quirky building.

"Only one way to find out" said Ginny and she pushed the bright emerald door open.

The inside of the store was just as unusual as the outside, it was however bizarrely calming. The contrast of soft lavender tones, and blues were calming and the small of lavender filled the air. Small baby pink clouds floated up in the ceiling. There was no one else in the establishment and a desk stood deserted.

"What is this?" Said Hermione in a hushed tone

"No clue" said Ginny looking around "some sort of art gallery?" And she pointed towards the walls were an array of drawings and designs, each more unusual and quirky than the other adorned place. There were paintings of what looked like a cross between a phoenix and a humming bird, a cluster of brightly coloured puffskeins, a lavender coloured hippogriff and a wand that was shooting out a rainbow of creatures.

"Hello there" said a soft and unmistakable voice. The two girls swivelled around were faced with Luna Lovegood.

"LUNA!" They cried in unison and they hugged her.

"Luna it is so nice to see you" said Hermione

"Is it?" Said Luna dreamily "I thought everyone had forgotten about me, after all, I hadn't heard from anyone since after Neville and I broke up"

Luna Lovegood was a kind, innocent looking girl but she had the tendency of speaking uncomfortable truths that caught people off-guard.

"Luna we had no idea where you went" said Ginny frowning "Neville didn't tell us anything about why it ended and he said even he didn't know where you'd gone!"

"We're sorry if you felt forgotten or unappreciated" added Hermione hastily "we have missed you. Honestly!"

"Oh it's quite alright" said Luna "I knew it would take a while before the wrackspurts led you here"

"Yeah that how we find you" said Ginny sarcastically and Hermione shot her a mean look but Luna was quite oblivious to it all.

"So, what is this place?" Said Hermione trying to steer the conversation away from wrackspurts and other bizarre creatures.

"This is my home" said Luna dreamily looking around "after the war I decided it was time for a change, so I went to live amongst muggles in Manchester, a very busy city you know?"

"Can't say I know it well" said Hermione conversationally "so what did you do there?"

"I worked at a tattoo parlour" said Luna as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"A what?" Said Ginny

"A tattoo parlour" said Hermione "it's like drawings muggles get on their skin that are permanent"

"Like the dark mark!?" Said Ginny shocked

"A bit" said Hermione "but muggles see it as an artistic expression, like instead of hanging drawings on a wall, they put them on their skin"

"That's bizarre" said Ginny

"Well that's what I decided to do here" said Luna "see after the war a lot of wizards were left with scars, and marks, so here, I cover them with magical tattoos, it's like the muggle ones but they can move. I wanted to help people move on"

The two girls looked at her with the mouths slightly hanging over, taking it all in as Luna explained about the number of witches and wizards that travelled from all over the have marks caused by dark magic covered with colourful phoenix's and thestrals/

"That's beautiful Luna" said Hermione honestly "It's so inspiring what you're doing here"

"It honestly" said Ginny "I'm so glad you've found such purpose here"

"Thank you" said Luna "it's lovely seeing you both again. How is it going with Harry and Ron?" She looked at them both and they shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you not read The Daily Prophet?" Asked Hermione curiously

"Oh no, I get the Quibbler once a month from Daddy but or else I try to stay away from all the negativity" said Luna in her sing-song voice "Business has never been better for Daddy you know"

"I'm glad to hear that" said Hermione "why don't you join us this evening for dinner and we can fill you in on everything that's been going on"

"That would be very nice" said Luna.

The girls made arrangements for later on that evening, bid goodbye, then Ginny and Hermione headed back to the hotel to get freshen up and get ready for the night ahead.

As they entered the room Hermione was shocked to see an emerald letter on her bed with the words 'Ms H. Granger written in beautiful calligraphy on the front. Even before opening Hermione knew who the letter was from but she could not imagine why Draco Malfoy would be writing to her whilst she was away. What did he possibly have to say to her that couldn't wait until she returned back to work. Without wasting anymore time she slit open the envelope and unfolded the piece of parchment that was inside.

 _"Ms Granger,_

 _I am writing to you to inform, and congratulate you simultaneously on the finalisation of your divorce, as your lawyer I was informed today that the paperwork has been processed and that Mr Weasley and yourself are no longer bonded by marriage and are no longer required to meet unless any unknown circumstances arise that could affect you both._

 _If there are, as your lawyer. I would advise you to contact me as soon as possible so we can devise a strategy that would be in your best interest so that your former spouse cannot cause any uncomfortable situations for you. I suggest that upon you arrival back in Britain we meet for lunch and discuss the matters further._

 _Enjoy Paris and the magic it has to offer,_

 _Yours faithfully,_

 _Draco Malfoy"_

Hermione re-read the letter various times, a frown spreading across her face. Any unknown circumstances? What could he possible mean by that?

"What's that?" Said Ginny as she stripped off her shoes and flopped onto the bed.

"A letter from my lawyer" said Hermione simply

"You mean Draco?"

"Yeah" she said folding the letter and stuffing it back into the envelope and stashing it into her luggage. Out of sight, out of mind she thought to herself. But Ginny wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"How come he's written to you then?" She said stretching out on the bed like a cat.

"Just letting me know that my divorce is finalised and I am officially single" she said casually

"And yet, you don't look happy?"

"I am relieved" said Hermione earnestly "but it is just very strange that it is all officially over"

Hermione decided that Ginny had too much on her plate already and that it wasn't the best moment to try and decipher Draco's cryptic message. Plus they had to get ready to go and meet Luna so she decided to push the letter and Draco to the back of her mind, get showered and begin getting ready for the night ahead.

As the sun went down on the Parisian skyline the two witches tottered out of the hotel into a taxi and zigzagged their way through the French capital to a little restaurant, they sat at a table outside where they sat under the twinkle of fairy-lights. Less than ten minutes later, Luna Lovegood showed up, her long blonde hair cascaded down her back and she was wearing a long lavender dress, she looked elegant and surprisingly grown up.

"This is nice" said Luna as she looked around at the terrace and fairy-lights

"It is isn't it?" Said Hermione happily "it's so good for us to be reunited"

"Yes it is" said Ginny "just like old times"

"Yes it is" said Luna "I miss Ron and Harry. How are they?"

"Harry is well" said Ginny as she took a bite of the garlic bread entree that they had ordered "he works at the ministry as an auror so it's all very stressful right now, but maybe he'll consider a career change in the future, settle down and quieten down"

"Oh I can't imagine Harry with a quiet life" said Luna "surprises and excitement seems to follow him everywhere"

"That it does" said Hermione winking at Ginny who gave her a swift kick under the table.

"What about you Hermione?" Said Luna "How are you and Ron, he is such a funny guy"

"Well" said Hermione taking a sip of white wine "Ron and I are no longer together actually Luna"

"I'm not surprised" she said abruptly

"Well you're the first person to say that" said Hermione rather testily

"Well you're very uptight and he was always a bit sloppy" she said "sometimes opposites don't attract, you see it all the time in magical creatures"

Hermione rolled her eyes and sensing the tension Ginny decided to swiftly intervene and take the spotlight off of Hermione's love life.

"So you and Neville" said Ginny "what happened there Luna?"

"Well it was all very sweet and fun at the beginning" said Luna "Neville was a very nice man but he just wasn't for me"

"In what way?" Said Hermione "a nice sweet guy, what more could you possibly want?"

"A woman" said Luna bluntly "I had never been with anyone before Neville and I knew it didn't feel right, it took a night out, fire-whiskey and a few Veela's to realise what I wanted"

'A few?!" Said Ginny giggling as Hermione turned red in the face

"Oh yes" said Luna smiling " Neville was very understanding and we went our separate ways, it was very nice of him to tell everyone, not that I would have minded"

"Trust me you don't want your dirty laundry aired for everyone to know" said Hermione darkly and Ginny chuckled

"So who are you with now?" Luna directed the question at Hermione and she blushed

"No one" she said quickly "my divorce only finalised today so I haven't exactly had time to date"

"Doesn't mean you couldn't have gotten to know other people" said Luna "maybe you need to let loose for once"

"I'm as loose as I need to be" said Hermione stubbornly

"Mrs I've-only-had-one-man-in-my-life" laughed Ginny "yeah real loose"

"And you've had tons" snorted Hermione

"I've kissed a few toads" laughed Ginny "and amidst all the boys are girls I realised it was Harry all along"

"Boys and girls?" Said Hermione "when was this?!"

"At Hogwarts" laughed Ginny "I realised that I would fall in love with a person, not a gender so I had my fun"

"How did I know nothing about this?" Said Hermione shocked

"Because you were too busy with your nose stuck in a book" said Luna seriously "maybe if you'd looked up you may have found someone more compatible for you instead of the only man you were friends with"

"I was friends with plenty of boys" said Hermione crossly

"Yeah my brothers and my partner" laughed Ginny "and Neville, maybe you should give that a go"

Hermione was in the middle of a sip of wine and started coughing and going bright red. Luna and Ginny both looked at each other and then back at Hermione.

"Something you'd like to tell us?" Said Ginny looking at Hermione

"No it just went down the wrong way" said Hermione weakly

"Did Neville go down the right way?" Said Luna in her dreamy voice "he is a pleaser isn't he?"

"No one went down on anyone" said Hermione hotly and she could her face growing redder by the minute.

"So you're telling me nothing has ever happened between you and Neville?" Said Ginny her eyes drilling into her.

"Listen" said Hermione deciding there was no getting out of this "it was after Ron and I broke up and we were both very drunk. It didn't mean anything and it won't be happening again"

"Don't blame you" said Ginny sipping her sparkling water through a straw "if my husband was sleeping with Pansy Parkinson I'd also sleep with other men"

"Ron and Pansy" said Luna her eyes going very wide "now those are two very kindred spirits"

"What both of them twats?" Said Hermione testily

Ginny and Luna both laughed and Hermione couldn't help but giggle as well.

"So what was wrong with Neville then?" Said Ginny

"A nice, sweet guy, what more could you want" chirped in Luna, starting on her third pornstar martini

"He was too nice" said Hermione "it didn't feel right"

"Maybe now you and Ron are officially over it won't feel so wrong?" Asked Ginny "I mean you need to get out there Hermione, have fun and run wild"

"I mean I don't know if running wild is exactly my thing" confessed Hermione

"No shit" Ginny rolled her eyes "but if you're not going to go wild now when will you? When you're old and married and have a midlife crisis? It's normal for you to have fun when you're young and get it out of your system. You wouldn't get a broom without flying it first"

"Harry's only ever had you" said Hermione her eyes narrowed "what makes you think he's not going to have a midlife crisis?"

"Before Harry and I married I told him to get whatever he needed out of his system" said Ginny "if he'd wanted to, he had every chance to"

"That's a risky game to play" said Hermione

"Maybe if you'd done that Ron wouldn't have wandered" said Luna

"I don't think anything would have stopped Ron wandering" said Ginny "some people just fall out of love"

"Maybe you two just didn't fall in love in the first place" said Luna serenely

"And how do you know if you've been in love" said Hermione

"You know" said Ginny "you just know, they are the first thing you think about in the morning, the last thing you think of a night, they make your stomach burst with butterflies and you have no doubt you'd die for each other"

"I don't know if I'll ever find that" said Hermione sadly

"If you want to find something you'll have to start looking" said Luna "You won't find it at work or in a book"

"You're right" said Hermione "you're both right"

"Make this a year of discovery" said Luna "head out of the books and into the clouds"

They all burst into giggles and clinked their drinks together. They talked late into the night before Ginny got Luna and Hermione into a taxi and they headed home. As Ginny, the only sober one since she wasn't drinking got them upstairs and Hermione and Luna both collapsed into the bed giggling.

"Right you two" said Ginny sternly sounding very much like Mrs Weasley "I'm going downstairs to get us three bottles of water and by the time I come back I want you both ready for bed"

"Yes mum" said Hermione and they both collapsed into another fit of giggles

"I'll get ready now" said Luna and as Ginny and Hermione both watched their mouths hanging open, she wriggled out of her dress and stood there in barley-there lace underwear and jumped back onto the bed next to Hermione who was still giggling.

"Ok now my turn!" Squealed Hermione jumping up and down on the bed, and before she knew what she was doing she pulled her dress over her head and circled it around her head like a lasso before throwing it at Ginny who still looked gob-smacked. Luna grabbed Hermione's legs and brought her tumbling down and they both lay next to each other doubled over in silent hysteria.

"RIGHT!" Said Ginny sternly. She strolled over and pulled the cover over the both of them, she went over to her bag, pulled out two little vials of pepper-up potion and put them on the bedside table.

"Sleep!" She said again in her stern voice "by the time I come back with the water, I want to see you both asleep"

As she store one towards the door Luna called out

"You'll make a great mum Gin" and giggled. Ginny gave them a smile and shut the door behind you. Hermione lay on her side and Luna turned around to face her.

"Thanks for tonight Luna" she said smiling "I needed to go wild, I guess I forgot how to have fun"

Ginny re-entered the room they both fell silent and listened to her place to water bottles on the bedside table and get into bed. Moments later both Ginny and Luna were sleeping soundly. Hermione quietly slipped out of bed and headed onto the balcony with her water, looking at the city lights and thought back to the letter that Draco Malfoy had written her and what it could possibly mean.

 **I hope you all liked this chapter! What do you think happens next? What was the cryptic letter referring to? The next chapter will be arriving soon but until then leave comments and reviews and I will answer them in the next chapter.**

 **Reviews:**

 **MAGIUSTHEELDER:** I really don't care about Ginny LOL I'm sorry but I never have xD she seems so forced and not just in your story I'm talking about every story she is in, she just annoys me xD

 _I understand not every character will resonate with everyone, sometimes it is hard for characters outside of protagonists to be as exciting as the main ones, but Ginny's character is her way for a reason and what is happening to her happens for a reason that you will hopefully soon discover! Everyone has their reasons._


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello readers! I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the story so far. I have noticed a bit of a drop in the number of readers and comments, which is understandably due to the fact that the chapters aren't being posted as regularly as I'd like. Unfortunately with a full-time job and a lot of stress - life has a tendency to get in the way but I'm back for another chapter! So if you enjoy it, please share it far and wide and comment and as always I'll answer your comments in the next chapter.**

 **This chapter contains sexual content, if you are against it, please don't read this chapter. Also the end of the final chapter was edited so make sure you are up to date with that one.**

 **Let me know your thoughts.**

 **All my love, always.**

 **Lumos Nox**

Hermione pushed open the door to a small, quaint boulangerie where she ordered several pain-au-chocolats and croissants. The sun was rising upon the sleepy Parisian streets, and Hermione felt very exhausted but at the same time at peace with the world. She had stayed awake until the early hours of the morning on the balcony writing back to Malfoy. After several attempts and multiple crumpled up pieces of parchment she finally settled on a short, but breezy letter.

Mr Malfoy,

Or should I now refer to you as Draco as you are no longer my lawyer since we have finally achieved our goal? I would like to simultaneously wish my sincerest condolences and congratulations regarding your divorce as I know you filled both of ours at the same time. I know that times like these can be very testing and emotionally challenging, I also know that you and I have never been on the same side, or the same page in the past but if you feel the need I am always free for a talk over a cup of coffee.

I am not sure how you are aware of my trip to Paris, I guess the Daily Prophet's reach is longer than what I thought. In any case, thank you for your letter and your concern; there has been no change in circumstances but let me know your earliest convince for next week and we will tie up any loose ends.

All my best from a magical Paris,

Yours faithfully,

Hermione.

The letter was a lot kinder and sympathetic then she normally would have been but maybe it was the Parisian magic, the weight lifted from her divorce or her determination to turn over new leaf, but she let that kindness was the way forward. She just hoped it didn't come across as flirtatious or anything other than polite and friendly. She had also decided to not let the girls know about her letter as she was sure they would either jump to conclusions or remind her of what a horrible person Draco Malfoy use to be back in school.

"Are you the same person you where back at Hogwarts?" A little voice asked in the back of her head.

No of course not she thought. That was a bittersweet realisation as the rosy-cheeked and bushy-haired girl who had gone to Hogwarts had been a sweet, trusting girl who had never been hurt or betrayed. On the flip side she liked her thicker skin, her scars were a sign of strength and resilience and she had grown into her skin and body.

She liked the fact that there was still space for her to grow, roads for her to take and people for her to meet. She also liked that she was growing more in tune with her body and accepted it instead of viewing it as a worthless waste of space. She just longed for a little. Bit of that trusting, naive girl who wore her heart on her sleeve to come back. But the war and her marriage had changed that and she didn't know if she'd ever see the shadow of that girl ever again.

Before she knew it she was back at the hotel and into the room. She could hear Ginny in the shower and Luna was curled up under the duvet, her porcelain skin sticking out at odd angles and her mass of silver locks draped over the side of the bed.

Hermione creeped onto the balcony and busied herself with setting up breakfast before curling up in a seat and grabbing a steaming cup of coffee. Moments later Ginny joined her, pouring herself a mug of tea and taking a seat next to her.

"Thank you for the pepper-up potion" said Hermione smiling at her "I have a feeling Luna will need it too when she wakes up"

"You're welcome" said Ginny and then frowned and added "you were up early this morning. When I woke up you were nowhere to be found"

"I couldn't get back to sleep, not use to sharing a bed anymore" laughed Hermione "plus Luna likes to take up a lot of space"

Ginny glanced over the shoulder and laughed at the sight of the peacefully asleep, yet disheveled looking Luna on the bed.

"Can't believe how quickly this week has gone and that we're going back tomorrow" Ginny said quietly

"I know" said Hermione wistfully "back to reality"

"Yeah, reality" echoed Ginny subconsciously rubbing her belly

"That doesn't mean anything changes though" said Hermione watching her carefully "anything you need, I'm here, any appointment Harry can't make, I'm there. I don't want us to grow apart again no matter what"

Ginny's blue eyes brimmed with tears but she genuinely smiled and said "That would mean the world to me, and to Harry too I'm sure"

Behind them there were muffled sounds and confused groans. Moments later Luna appeared on the balcony looking dishevelled and wearing nothing but a large quidditch shirt of Ginny's she'd found laying about and her lace knickers.

"Good morning sunshine" said Ginny brightly as Luna took a seat and Hermione poured her a cup of strong coffee.

"Good morning" said Luna dreamily as she took a long sip of coffee and squinted at the sunshine that was bathing the balcony "it's a beautiful day today"

"It really is" said Hermione brightly taking a bite of a croissant "I say we finish up breakfast get ready and make the most of the day" and the two girls nodded in agreement.

The three witches got ready in flowery summer dresses and hit the streets of muggle Paris, walking down the Champs Elysee, standing beneath the Arc-de-Triomphe watching the muggle cars zoom around them, having a spot of lunch before climbing up the Eiffel Tower in the evening and watching the sun set as the city started to light up and in that moment three girls looked over the city in silence as they internally promised themselves that this was the start of something new.

The journey back home was a sad one. Luna accompanied them to the airport and the girls said their goodbyes with Luna promising to make the trip over the England regularly so that they could have get girly get-togethers. They boarded the plane and Hermione noticed Ginny go a pale shade of green so she tried to keep her busy and take her mind off of her nausea. Before they knew it the plane made a bumpy landing back in London.

When they finally got their baggage and headed out the gates Ginny let out a gasp of surprise. There was Harry waiting for them.

"Had a nice time away ladies?" Said Harry hugging Hermione and then kissing Ginny deeply. Feeling a bit awkward Hermione looked down at her feet and shuffled uncomfortably. Finally the couple broke apart and Ginny smiled at her sheepishly.

"Sorry 'Mione"

"It's ok, you two have a lot to catch up, I'll let you get home and settled"

"Are you sure you don't want to go for a bite to eat?" Said Harry picking up Ginny's bag and hoisting it on his shoulder "we haven't all properly caught up in a while"

"How about we plan a dinner date for next week and we all go out and catch up?" Offered Hermione "I'm just beat and need to get everything ready for work tomorrow"

"Deal" said Ginny smiling "how about Wednesday evening?"

"It's a date" Hermione smiled back and gave them both a big hug and said "take care of yourselves and I'll see you on Wednesday"

An hour an a half later, after finally managing to find a taxi, sit in London traffic and making awkward small talk with the driver Hermione finally opened the door of her apartment and stepped in. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Home. She put her clothes in the wash and jumped into the shower as she felt dirty and sweating from the day's travels. Hermione took a long shower, this meant she exfoliated, shaved and lathered her body in body wash, did a hair-mask, shampoo and conditioner and applied oils onto her damp skin. She finally stepped out of the shower feeling like a new woman and wrapped herself in a white fluffy towel. Feeling content and like she had a hold of her life she made her way into the kitchen and flicked the kettle on.

As the water started to boil she saw a letter on her table. Looking around she noticed one of the windows had been left open so that must have been where an owl had entered. She opened it and immediately recognised the writing and emerald ink.

"Ms Granger,

Or should I say Hermione? I am glad you have enjoyed your Parisian getaway. Thank you for your condolences over the death of my marriage, I would also like to apologise for my behaviour in the past and hope we can remain professional whilst the dust settles on our divorces and the news that have appeared since those events. I know you have had your experience with the wizarding media in the UK but their reach does stretch much further than what you can imagine and it seemed that during your getaway the latest copies of the Daily Prophet have not reached you. Would tomorrow be a good day for us to grab dinner after work? Same place we dined last time, I will make the reservation once you confirm.

Yours Faithfully,

Draco

PS: Don't worry I won't order any wine"

Hermione scrunched her face as she read the post scriptum. What did he mean by he wouldn't order any wine? Was this a reference to what had happened when they had both been intoxicated? As for the Daily Prophet she could only imagine what stories they had published since her's and Ron's marriage became official. Probably tales of the witch who had stolen Ron from her and his spiralling alcoholism. Whatever it was she didn't want to know right now, she was above their petty stories and vile rumours. And if Ron was in trouble, he knew where she lived if he was so desperate for her help, or even for a reconciliation of their friendship. She knew that in the past she had always been the one to reach out and fix problems that she hadn't caused and try and apologise for others mistakes. Whilst she'd been looking back on herself she'd promised herself that from now on whoever wanted to be in her life could fight for a spot to be there, she wasn't running herself ragged for other people. This was her new beginning.

She grabbed a pen and parchment and wrote back to Draco confirming she would attend dinner with him tomorrow after work so they could iron out whatever final details he was talking about. She was more intrigued than anything else and part of her was looking forward to seeing Draco again.

Hermione spent the rest of her evening continuing her self-care plan, this included ordering in Chinese food, spending an hour on her skin routine and laying out her outfit for the next day. As she pulled out a pair of shoes from her closet an old book caught her eye.

"A History of Magic"

She smiled and she picked up the book and flicked between the pages. It had been one of the first books she'd bought when she'd received her Hogwarts acceptance letter. This copy had accompanied her through all her years at Hogwarts and even during the war this book had brought her comfort and a sense of belonging. She pulled on her comfiest pyjamas and curled got into bed curled up with the book and flicked through its pages, reading words that she knew almost by heart still. It still made her feel as excited and happy as the day she had first learnt that she was a witch. Before she knew it she had dozed off into a peaceful sleep and didn't wake up until the shrill sound of her alarm woke her up the next morning.

Although she wasn't particularly looking forward to work she was ready for whatever the day ahead held for her. She got ready in the outfit she'd laid out for herself the day before, applied her makeup carefully and headed out the door with plenty of time to spare. She felt a slight fluttering sensation in her stomach, she was excited for her future and her life.

Work went as well as work could go, her boss even laid off her today and made the effort of asking her how her week off had been before converting back to his usual self and dumping a mountain of paperwork upon her desk,

On her lunch break, Hermione quickly nipped outside to get a sandwich. She couldn't help but notice that people were looking at her. On her way back from lunch she stopped by the bathroom to check that she didn't have anything on her face or her clothes. She looked perfectly ordinary, she couldn't figure out what people were looking at. The glares and curious looks continued throughout the day and when five o'clock hit she was relieved to pack up her stuff and head out to dinner.

Not wanting to seem too eager she took a stroll by the park, taking in the warm evening breeze before heading into the restaurant were she and Draco had dined twice before. She bell tinkled as she walked in and the eager waitress walked up, only this time she didn't seem as eager and smiley, she looked Hermione up and down and said "Ms Granger?"

"That's me" said Hermione smiling what she hoped was a warm smile

"Hmm. Follow me miss" she said disinterested and led her to a small, private booth at the back of the restaurant. Draco was already seated but he got up when Hermione arrived and made sure she was comfortably seated before he settled down.

"Any drinks Mr Malfoy?" Said the waitress smiling at him

"Just a bottle of sparkling water to share I think, please" he said smiling back.

"We can get wine you know" said Hermione rolling her eyes as the waitress walked away "I promise I won't jump on you"

"I beg your pardon?" Said Draco looking bewildered "why in Merlin's beard would you jump on me"

"Because of what happened the last time we drank" said Hermione just as confused "why else wouldn't we be drinking?"

"I was just being sensitive to your… Situation" said Draco awkwardly "I didn't want to drink if you weren't drinking"

"And why wouldn't I be drinking" said Hermione getting frustrated

"Like I said, because of your situation" said Draco calmly

"And what situation is that?" Said Hermione heatedly "divorced?"

"No. Pregnant" said Draco flatly

"PREGNANT?!" Said Hermione loudly "What in god's name are you talking about?"

Draco sighed and reached into his briefcase and pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet that he handed over to Hermione. More confused than ever Hermione reached over and took it from him. She looked down at the from page and gasped. There on the cover was a picture of her in Paris, she was in the French pharmacy picking up pregnancy tests she was looking around looking embarrassed and secretive.

The headline read,

EVEN THE BRIGHTEST WITCH CAN END UP PREGNANT

She read on, not believing what she was reading.

Hermione Jean Granger has been known for many years as the brightest witch of her age. Being a leading member of the resistance against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Ms Granger had been notoriously known for her intellectual prowess, being Harry Potter's best friend and marrying Ronald Weasley. But it seems that the nation's golden girl has fallen off her pedestal lately with her unfaithful husband and the recent finalisation of her divorce, it seemed that her life could not fall any lower. But we were wrong.

A reporter of the Daily Prophet saw Hermione Granger in the dead of night sneaking off to a pharmacy in the centre of muggle Paris during an escapade with Ginny Potter. Upon closer inspection our reporter saw the young muggle-born witch picked up several muggle contraptions known as pregnancy tests, these are devices muggles use in order to determine whether they are pregnant or not and have shown to be very effective.

The question remaining is, who's the daddy? Whilst the obvious answer to some may be Ms Granger's former husband and teenage-sweetheart Ronald Weasley, many sources have come forward reportedly seeing the newly single witch intoxicated with an array of wizards including Mr Neville Longbottom whom she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hermione put the paper down and looked at Draco in utter disbelief.

"And you believed this load of garbage?" She asked him angrily "you of all people who knows the newspaper's tendency to spin a story out of nothing?!"

"I know the Daily Prophet has a tendency to spin tales but answer me this, would I be a good lawyer if I didn't at least meet with you and see if this story has any fact to it?"

"The fact you even believed it!" She said furiously

"Is that you in the picture?" Asked Draco calmly

"What?"

"Is that you" he repeated

"Obviously that's me" she said confused

"And are you buying what they are accusing you of buying?" He continued, still in that same calm tone

"Yes…But"

"So can you see why I may have some doubts about you not being pregnant?"

"I understand but they weren't for me" she said tears spilling down her face "I was helping a friend"

"And is this friend Mrs Potter?" Said Draco

"That's no one's business" Hermione said "I promised my friend I wouldn't tell anyone, not even her family knows"

"So it is Mrs Potter" said Draco

"I didn't say…"

"Hermione don't insult my intelligence" he now spoke with poison in his voice "if those weren't for you and you were on a trip with Mrs Potter than it was obviously for her"

"You can't tell anyone, please Draco" pleaded Hermione

"Luckily for you there is a confidentiality clause in my job" he said calmly "but you need to fix this"

"I know"

"Because if I've seen it you can bet all your galleons in Gringotts that Mr Weasley has seen it, Pansy Parkinson has seen it, Neville Longbottom has seen it as well as the whole Weasley family"

Hermione held her head in her hands "Hopefully Ginny tells her family soon"

"I hope for you she does"

"Can we please change subject?" Hermione said "I need to get away from this"

At that very moment the waitress came back with their meals and a bottle of sparkling water.

"Could we get a bottle of white wine please?" Said Draco

"A bottle of wine and one glass" she said back at him

"Two glasses" he said shortly and she went red

"I'm sorry Sir" she said and scurried away.

"I'm surprised your name didn't make it into the article" said Hermione darkly "I mean someone must have seen me walk in here with you"

"Oh it did" said Draco "but my connections at the Daily Prophet make sure my name never gets published without my consent"

"Fat good is does me knowing people who work there" said Hermione darkly as she grabbed her glass of wine and took a massive swig "instead I'm known as the Biggest-slut of her age"

"Even if you had slept with all these wizards how does that make you a slut?" Said Draco frowning at her "in my books a sexually liberated woman is a strong woman"

"That's shocking coming from you" she said

"And is that" said Draco

"Because I took you for quite a…" she stood there trying to find the right word

"Judgemental bastard?" Draco finished for her

"Old-fashioned conservative wizard" she corrected him

"Well my family is" said Draco "so you can imagine their displeasure at the stories they've had to hush in the past"

"Such as?" Said Hermione curiously

"Well Pansy was, well she still is, quite a liberal witch, she was very sexually curious since Hogwarts and many stories were threatened to be published about her"

"I thought your parents would have loved Pansy Parkinson, pure-blood witch from an excellent lineage"

"Oh yes that they did love" said Draco rolling his eyes and taking another bite of his steak "her bloodline was perfect but my mother didn't approve of the rumours of threesomes in the Slytherin common room and dalliances with witches"

Hermione nearly choked on her salmon "threesomes in the Slytherin common room?"

"Oh as if there weren't wild parties in the Gryffindor one" said Draco rolling his eyes "we were teenagers and experimenting. Better getting all that out the way whilst young rather than have a midlife crisis"

"Well I didn't get out the way" said Hermione going pink

"Well if you'd like I can make some calls, see if any witches are willing?" Said Draco seriously and Hermione laughed.

"Don't say that too loudly we might make the front page of the Prophet tomorrow"

"Didn't you hear me Granger, I have connections. Nothing gets said about me without me knowing about it"

"Back to Granger are we?"

"Old habits die hard" smiled Draco and Hermione felt a little flutter in her stomach. She didn't know why she felt it but it was wrong and those butterflies had to be exterminated she told herself.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly and they had a nice time talking about Paris and travels. They talked about Draco's family immigrating to France after the war and that Draco visited France frequently and knew Paris like the the back of his hand. Hermione told him about having travelled when she was younger and how she wished she'd done more of it as an adult. Before they knew it they'd gone through two bottles of wine and they were the only two people left at the restaurant.

"I think it's time to call it a night" said Hermione and Draco signalled a waiter for the check.

At first Draco refused to let her pay for anything but after a heated debate Hermione managed to at least pay for her half of the meal. They made their way outside and Hermione turned to him.

"Thank you for tonight Draco" she said smiling

"I'm just doing my job" he said shrugging

"Right well I best be heading off before they get another picture of me" Hermione joked and before she knew it she leant forward and kissed Draco on the cheek. She pulled back and went slightly red.

Draco looked unabashed

"Will you be alright getting home?" He asked

"I'll be fine" she said "I'm sure I'll see you around. Maybe grab coffee sometime?"

"Maybe" he said and gave her the shadow of a smile "take care of yourself Granger"

"You too Malfoy" and she turned on her heel and headed off to a safe apparition point and before she knew it she was in the street next to her apartment.

She headed inside and as she exited the lift onto her floor she heard a loud

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She froze and listened carefully. It was probably a domestic argument going on. A angry partner being kicked out and their significant other refusing to let them in. She continued to make her way but then she heard a familiar voice and she let out a groan.

"HERMIONE LET ME IN OR I WILL BLAST THIS DOOR DOWN"

BANG! BANG!

"I SWEAR HERMIONE IF YOU DON'T LET ME IN RIGHT NOW!"

"Looking for someone?" Hermione said cooly and Ron whirled around

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" He roared

"I didn't know I owed you any explanations anymore" she said "shall we take this inside instead of causing more of a scene than you already have"

She opened the door and he followed her in. When he closed it behind him she silently cast a mufiliato charm on the door to avoid any further embarrassment.

She strode into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine.

"Wine?" She offered

"No" he said going pink

"So what did you want to talk to me so urgently about?" She said sitting on the sofa

"You know bloody well what this is about" he said angrily "the whole damn wizarding world knows what this is about"

"Oh this?" She grabbed the newspaper out of her bag and threw it at him

"Yes THAT!" He yelled "what the hell Hermione?!"

"As you probably know, it's not true" she said "so what's the problem? It's not the first time The Daily Prophet has intruded into our life and lied about it"

"How do I know it's a lie?!" He continued to yell "Hermione…Is it?"

"Is it true?" She asked raising her eyebrows

"Is it mine?" He asked going red

Hermione couldn't help herself, she burst into giggles

"Hermione don't" he said angrily "Don't laugh at me. Not about this"

"I don't know what's more funny" she said controlling herself "the fact you think I'd be drinking wine if I were pregnant or the fact you think it could physically be yours if I were pregnant"

"Why couldn't it?" He shot back "we were married"

"And for the last few months you've not touched me because you've been too busy with Pansy" she shot back "so you can go back to her and let her know it's all a load of bullshit"

"She left" he said "She believed it and left"

"Then she's even more of a moron than I thought she was" she said coldly

There was an awkward silence and Hermione could see he was hurting. She got up and poured him a glass even though she knew she shouldn't. He accepted it and took a sip.

"I told her you and I were done 'Mione" he said "but she said I was still in love with you and that we were hooking up"

"Well that divorce we filed was a big waste of time and money then" she said "should I tell my lawyer to cancel the cancellation of our marriage?"

He laughed a hollow laugh "how did it get to this Hermione?"

"Maybe people were right when they said we were too young" said Hermione "maybe we got caught up"

"I did love you" said Ron "and I meant those vows. But 'Mione we were… we were never…"

"Compatible?" Hermione said "we tried Ron and it didn't work. For what it's worth I'm sorry for the pain I caused you"

"I'm sorry too Mione. I just lost it when Pansy showed me the newspaper. And the nerve of them, as if you'd sleep with Neville" he laughed again

Hermione stayed quiet. She was so relieved to be having a calm conversation to break his heart all over again. There was no point in causing him even more pain than he was in.

"So" he said "Who were those muggle tests for then if they weren't for you"

"Ron" she said putting her hands on his shoulders "I wish I could tell you but I can't at the moment. I did it as a favour to someone and I promised I wouldn't tell"

"Hermione please just tell me" he looked at her with pleading eyes and she felt her heart flutter a bit. She had forgotten how blue his eyes were.

"I can't Ronald"

"Are you sure it's not you?" Said Ron "because that would change…"

"Nothing" she finished for him "it would change nothing if I were. We didn't work out and bringing a child into it would make it worse"

"You know that's all I wanted" he whispered "I wanted a family and you, you didn't. But if you've changed your mind…"

"Ron I wanted it but I wasn't ready. I'm still not ready. Not with you not with anyone"

"So who's is it?" He said "if it's not mine?"

"I'm not pregnant Ronald"

"You're lying. You've been sleeping around haven't you"

"I'm not lying and no I haven't and even if I had, what's it to you you massive hypocrite!"

"Because you wouldn't give your husband what you're apparently willing to give any other wizard out there!" He started to raise his voice

"I gave you my heart" she said in a deadly voice "I gave you everything, you were my first and I I hoped you'd be my last but now it's over what am I suppose to do, become a nun?!"

"So you just decide to open your legs to anyone now?!"

"IT WAS ONCE" she yelled "SO BACK OFF" she didn't know why the words were coming out of her mouth but they were and she couldn't stop them.

"I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING RONALD, I THOUGHT I'D NEVER BE WITH ANOTHER MAN BUT I'VE CRIED TOO MANY DAMN TEARS OVER YOU AND YOU, YOU'VE BEEN WITH HALF THE WITCHES IN THE DAMN COUNTRY RONALD, WHILST WE WERE MARRIED, WHILST I WAS WAITING FOR MY HUSBAND AT HOME WORRIED SICK. SO YES I HAVE SLEPT WITH SOMEONE ELSE BUT NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT WITH HIS CHILD"

Ron looked like someone had just slapped him in the face, he went as white as a ghost and then suddenly burst into tears. Hermione didn't know what to do. She poured him another glass and put her hand on his knee.

"You were mine" he sobbed "you were my woman, and now, now someone bastard is fucking my wife"

"I'm not your wife anymore" she said gently "I know that hurts. But it's what's best for us"

They sat in silence and drank wine. Hours passed and Hermione knew it was time to call it a night.

"Ronald we both have work tomorrow so if you don't mind I need to go to bed"

"I should go. I'm sorry" he said abruptly standing up and almost tripping over the table she looked at him as he stumbled towards the door, he was slightly intoxicated and dishevelled and she knew Mrs Weasley would kill her if she let anything happen to him.

"Ronald just stay here" she said "I'll make the sofa for you"

"Are you sure" he said " 'Mione I don't want to impose on you"

"It's only a night" she said, more to herself than him

She made his bed on the sofa and he hugged her tightly

"Thanks 'Mione" and he kissed her forehead "you're the best"

"Good night Ron" she smiled at him and got undressed and got into bed in a light blue camisole and knickers. She pushed out of her mind that her ex-husband was sleeping on her sofa and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep. But she woke up hours later, she felt drowsy from the wine and she felt someone next to her. It took her a few minutes to realise Ron had somehow made her way into bed with her.

And he was naked.

She turned onto her side and Ron came up behind her and draped his arm around her and pulled her in close. His warm smell felt like home, the smell she'd fallen asleep to for many years. She curled up into him instinctively and felt him breath in the smell of her hair. Then she felt him, against her leg, throbbing. It'd been so long since she'd felt Ron wanting her.

It was so unfamiliar and yet familiar at the same time. Maybe it was because it was familiar, maybe it was to get back at Pansy but Hermione turned around and kissed Ron deeply. He groaned at the touch of her lips and thrust himself against her, she could feel him against her stomach. It was so hard and it was for her. She was going to show him what he was missing out on, what he'd given up for Pansy. She rolled him onto his back and deepened her kiss then she started kissing him, all over, biting his neck lightly and he moaned again and clutched at her bum.

She started kissing and trailing her tongue along his chest, his lower stomach until she reached it. This was it. She started licking it lightly, up and down and it continued to throb and Ron was moaning her name. She used her hands to cradle him and massage him gently and just when she knew he was expecting it she took him into her mouth.

"holy-fucking-shit babe" he groaned arching his back

She took him, feeling every inch of him throb inside her mouth, getting harder than she could have dreamed of. She stopped.

"Don't stop 'Mione"

"Oh it's not over" and she took off her pyjamas and positioned herself on top of him, rubbing herself onto him.

"'Mione I can't take it stop teasing"

She continued rubbing herself onto him and then, when she was nice and wet and positioned himself at her entrance before inserting him deep into her and she let out a deep moan.

"Ohhh" she cried

"Hermione" he moaned "shit that's good"

She started riding him, rocking back and forward. Feeling herself get wetter and him get harder.

"Mione I'm going to cum" he gasped and she grabbed his hands and placed them onto her breasts and he groaned again "you're killing me"

She continued to ride him and started rubbing herself at the same time moaning harder and harder. She felt a wave building up inside of her, threatening to burst.

"Ron" she gasped "I think I'm going to cum"

And before she knew it she moaned louder than she'd ever moaned and she felt the waved starting to crash, washing over her body, making her lose control.

Ron grabbed her waist and started thrusting himself into her, harder and harder, making Hermione moan louder and louder. And then he let out a loud groan.

"I'm cumming for you Hermione"

And they both collapsed into a hot sweaty mess, panting. Then, as if they were still married, she rolled over and fell asleep in Ron's arms.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always let me know your thoughts and predictions!**

 **All my love,**

 **Lumos Nox**


	16. Chapter 16

**Dear readers!**

 **Well wow. That last chapter's reviews have been a whirlwind with quite a lot of hate and some very supportive comments. I understand that you will never be able to please everyone with a story but to take it to the extreme of calling it 'stupid' is a bit uncalled for so I thought I'd give my personal thoughts about Ron and Hermione hooking up (which I suspect is what is causing people to be so 'done' with the story).**

 **Relationships are hard. Marriage is too and ending that is one of the most difficult things someone can go through and there will be residual feelings for a very longtime, and it is so easy falling back into old habits with an ex, even if they are toxic. I'm sure some readers can relate to that.**

 **For those of you who understand that and gave kind reviews - thank you, for those who didn't agree but said it in a constructive manner, thank you too. To those who are rude, please find another story. As always if you enjoy this next chapter please share and leave your reviews on the story, it means so much to me.**

 **All my love, Always**

 **Lumos Nox**

Morning arrived and cast a harsh, bright light into Hermione's white room, her shrill alarm went off and she woke up like someone had given her an electric shock. She look around wildly and realised that she was naked and gasped looked next to her. There lay Ron, sprawled out and completely unaware of the world around him.

"Shit" she muttered under her breath and scrambled out of bed, grabbed clothes for work and locked herself in the bathroom. She turned on the shower, turned it up to as hot as she could physically withstand and stepped under it, she felt the warm water cascade down her body and groaned as she felt it envelop her, she felt safe. She scrubbed away and pushed the thought of Ron, passed out on her bed out of her mind, willing him to disappear.

She'd be lying if she said that she hadn't enjoyed last night, but for all the wrong reason, it had been a last good-bye, a sweet vengeance on the man who had always made her feel like she wasn't enough. It was her closure, her breaking free by showing her ex-husband who had made her feel time after time like she was too cold, too prude that she was enough and that he had lost her for good.

But that was wrong, she shouldn't have taken out her petty vengeance on Ron and she should have just continued her life, her new fresh start. She stepped out the shower and got ready for work, taking her time. She told herself if she took her time that maybe would get the hint and head out the door so that she wouldn't have to have the awkward morning after talk, but when she stepped out the door, full dressed and ready she found him still there, sat on the edge of her bed fully dressed and looking down at his feet. As she stepped out, her looked up at her and gave her a weak smile.

"You look nice 'Mione"

"Thanks Ron…" she said "Erm would you like a cup of coffee before work?"

He nodded gratefully and they headed into the kitchen, keeping their distance between them and sitting in silence as the took careful sips of their steaming hot cups of coffee.

Hermione decided to break the silence.

"Listen Ron" she started "about last night

"No please, let me Hermione" he said looking at her his eyes looking pained "last night was incredible, it truly was, but this morning when I woke up, it felt…"

"Wrong" Hermione finished for him "that's how I felt"

Ron nodded and looked at her "It would make my life easier if I didn't feel this, if we could just go back to being married and make it work, but I can't 'Mione, I really can't"

"And that's not what I want either" Hermione said "and I don't want us to go back to that dark place where neither of us are happy"

"I'm sorry for everything 'Mione" he said "I hope we can be civil around each other, I know it would mean a lot to my family and to me as well"

"I'd like that" Hermione smiled and reached for his hand, grasping it tightly "even if we're not married, the Weasley's will always be my family. We've been through too much not to be"

He held her hand back and looked at his watch "I need to head off for work, being Harry's friend may have it's perks but if I'm late again he's going to hex me"

Hermione laughed and grabbed her bag and coat "I'll walk with you"

They headed out into the cold morning at a brisk walk, catching up about work, about Ron being back at his mother's and her driving him up the wall. Hermione was relived to hear that Ron had gotten help and was working towards a more positive life.

"I'm happy for you Ron" she said smiling as they stepped into the ministry "I really am"

"I'm happy too Hermione" he said smiling at her "I think we're both going to be just fine"

They gave each other a brief hug and headed for their separate floors, vowing to meet for coffee soon and to stay in touch.

***

The of the week went by quickly and Hermione busied herself by catching up with her work and avoiding the Daily Prophet. The day after her and Ron's incident the Prophet had taken it upon themselves to take a picture of them walking into work together and put it on the front page with a story about their reconciliation ahead of their baby's arrival. Hermione had laughed it off and binned her copy into the nearest bin. But the looks and whispers followed her wherever she went and she felt unnerved.

Thursday rolled around and Hermione bustled out of work, looking forward to meeting up with Harry and Ginny. She walked into the restaurant and saw them already seated at a table. They waved at her and she walked over.

"Hello there" she said brightly "how are you two?"

"Never better" smiled Harry "but I can't say the same for Ginny"

"Why what's wrong?" Said Hermione looking at Ginny who grimaced back

"Turn's out morning sickness is no joke" she said weakly "plus you try having your mum force-feed you every moment of the day"

"Morning sickness?" Said Hermione in mock disbelief "does this mean"

"Oh cut it out" laughed Harry "Ginny told me everything and I just want to say thank you, putting up with the press can't have been easy"

"Oh you know" Hermione said flicking her hair "everyday I read a different story about myself, turns out I have a more exciting life than I thought" and they all laughed

"Talking about the Prophet" said Ginny after they'd ordered their meals "what's this story about you and my dear brother's reconciliation?"

Hermione laughed "Well the good news is that me and Ron are on good terms, but no, we are never getting back together"

"Good" said Ginny "because I am not ready to be pregnant and put up with both of your problems again"

"I'm not ready for relationship problems either trust me" said Hermione "I just want a simple life"

"Cheers to that" chimed in Harry lifting his glass of water and they joined in with him "cheers!"

" I am glad to see that Ron is doing so much better though" said Harry "he's really pulled himself together and is putting in the time and work, it's good having him back"

"I'm relieved to hear that" said Hermione genuinely "I'm glad to have him back as a friend as well"

"Next time we can invite him along" suggested Harry "that'll give the Prophet a good story"

"Wait until Ginny's bump starts showing and they realise they got the wrong person" laughed Hermione "speaking of your bump, how did Ron take it"

"Really well" said Harry and Ginny nodded " he said he was relieved to know it was me and not you and that he was really happy for both of us"

"I bet" laughed Hermione "I can't believe he ever thought it might be true"

And with that they spent the rest of the evening enjoying good food with even better company. And for the first time in a very long time, Hermione felt happy.

***

Weeks past and Hermione's life went on as usual, she met with Harry, Ron and Ginny for meals, concentrated on herself and her work and found a comfortable routine that she was happy with. And just when she thought nothing could possibly burst her happy bubble she was brought back down to earth with a sharp knock on her door one evening. She headed over to her door, expecting to maybe find Ginny at the door but to her surprise, and dismay, it was Pansy Parkinson.

"Evening" she said curtly

"Well this is unexpected" Hermione replied coldly, wrapping her robe around her and crossing her arms across her chest "how may I help you Pansy?"

"I need to talk to you" she replied still in that same curt voice

"Then talk" she Hermione replied losing patience

"Can I come in then?" Said Pansy

"I'd rather you didn't but if you insist" said Hermione said and led them into a living room and took a seat waiting for Pansy to start talking but she just stared at her.

"You said you needed to talk to me" Hermione prompted her, taping her foot impatiently.

"Why?" Said Pansy coldly "why did you take him back now? When you knew he was with me and that I love him?"

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione laughed in disbelief

"I know" said Pansy angrily "I saw you two going into your apartment and I saw the picture the next day so don't deny it"

"Not that I owe you an explanation after everything you've done" said Hermione coldly "but Ron and I aren't back together and don't plan on ever getting back together"

"Bullshit" Pansy hissed "then why was he over?"

"He was over to talk" Hermione said calmly "about his family and about us being on the same page, which we both agreed was that he and I are better off as friends"

"What about the baby then?" She said crossing her arms "you just going to be a single mother?"

"What baby?" Said Hermione

"I saw the pictures and the article!" She shrieked "I know what's going on"

"Obviously not" retorted Hermione " or else you'd know it was another one of the Daily Prophet's wild stories"

"Oh that's exactly what Ron said" Pansy said "but then when I asked him why you were caught buying those tests he had no answer to give me"

"Maybe" said Hermione in mock thoughtfulness "it's because it's none of your damn business"

"When there's something going on between you and my man then it becomes my damn business" Pansy shot back

"Well if he's your man maybe you should stand by him, talk to him and believe what he says"

"Bit hard to when his ex-wife keeps forcing herself into the picture" Pansy laughed, finally taking a seat and looking at Hermione

"Funny" said Hermione "that's what I thought when I was trying to make my marriage work with my husband and you were sleeping with him behind my back"

"So that's what this is" laughed Pansy "Revenge?! Well well done Hermione; you won!"

"What exactly have I won?" She said raising an eyebrow

"You turned my ex-husband against me, his family as well as mine, you took my boyfriend away from me and you sit here and still pretend that you're a victim in all this"

"So you cheat on your husband with mine and someone I'm to blame when you run away from him because the newspapers published a false story?" Asked Hermione

"Does it ever get boring?" Said Pansy

"What?"

"Acting so superior" said Pansy "it's like you're still that know-it-all that I went to school with and you think that just because you were named the brightest witch of you age that that gives you the right to talk down to the rest of us"

"I don't think I'm superior, what I do think is that I'm a better person than you because I'm not a home-wrecker. I don't go around sleeping with people's husbands"

"Yeah I get it" said Pansy "I'm the slut and you're the saint"

"Your words not mine" said Hermione getting up to pour herself a glass of wine and sit back down "now if you don't mind, I think you've said all you've had to say"

"Fine, I'll go" Pansy sighed and got up. She got up, walked after to Hermione and put hands on either side of her armchair and leaned in, getting at eye-level with her.

"Before I go, you listen to me" she whispered, venom in her voice "you can act superior all you want, in fact do whatever you want. But stay away from me, my man and my life"

She straightened up and headed up to the door

"Oh and one last thing" she called, her hand on the door " you need to let your hair down and live a little because life is short, and you don't want to end up old and full of regrets because you had a broom too far up your ass to live a little"

And on that note she wrenched the door open and slammed it behind her. Hermione leaned forward and grabbed her wand from the table and flicked it, the door locked and she sunk back into her seat and breathed deeply. She knew that she had done nothing wrong and was in the right, but the those last words resonated in her mind. She knew she was uptight and she knew she had to live, but she didn't want to turn into Pansy Parkinson.

She decided to take her mind of it and head into her bedroom, grabbed her book from her bedside table and ran herself a bath that she added lavender oil, bath bubbles and sunk into it. She spent the rest of her evening reading her book in the bath, got out, put on her most comfortable pyjamas and sunk into her bed, ready for an early night's sleep.

***

The end of summer turned into autumn which in a blink of an eye rolled into winter. Despite Hermione's new proposal to turn her life around, she had sunk into her usual routine and her life had become quite mundane. Her days began to merge into one another, work, sleep repeat. She had decided to join the muggle gym near the apartment which she enjoyed but her daily workout was probably the most exciting part of her day.

The press had thankfully given up on her as they realised they'd gotten the wrong person. Ginny and Harry had come out and made a public announcement about their pregnancy to the wizarding world and they became the new centre of the press' attention. Ginny had become quite big and had her baby shower at the end of the week which was set to be a big event with both men and women at The Burrow where they would be announcing the gender of the baby.

Hermione was thrilled for them but she felt like she was having a mid-twenties life crisis where she was wondering what was her purpose in life. She couldn't help but think that there must be more than this to her life. She had desperately wanted with all her heart to be happily married and start a family but it seemed like it wasn't in the cards for her and apart from her dinners with Harry and Ginny twice a month (which Ron no longer attended as he was back with Pansy Parkinson) her life was quite lonely. She had considered getting in contact with Neville but had stopped herself, telling herself that she was better off alone and that she needed to be alone.

The day of the baby-shower she felt slightly nervous. She would be going to a big party where there would be a lot of people who she knew and who she knew had read all sorts of stories about her in the prophet. She didn't really want to answer any questions about her personal life but she knew that she had to go and support her best friend so she forced herself to get up early, shower, change into a black dress and spent a bit more time applying her makeup. After an hour of getting ready, she stood in front of the mirror and looked at her work. She looked nice she remarked and was proud of the first signs of results from her work at the gym, her body looked more toned and she just looked healthier. She zipped up her brown boots, grabbed her coat and bag and headed out the door.

Winter had truly hit and there was a thin layer of snow upon the ground and the wind was crisp and cold. She bowed her head and headed into the usual street she used to disaparate. She turned on her heel and seconds later neatly appeared in front of the gates of The Burrow. She looked up and saw a colossal tent pitched in the yard, much like the tent that had been pitched when Ron and her had gotten married and she felt a flood of memories sweep over her. She took a deep breath and pushed the gate open and made her way towards the entrance, bracing herself for the day ahead.

It didn't matter how many years Hermione spent in the wizarding world, magic still had a way of taking her breath away in unexpected ways. When she stepped into the tent she gasped and smiled. The tent was toasty warm and had several roaring fires throughout, the roof of the tent was covered in clouds and pink and blue snowflakes were falling from the sky and evaporating midair. The tables were decorated with an array of sweets and pastel coloured flowers. An enchanted champagne fountain was in the corner of the tent and Hermione headed in and grabbed a glass, taking a sip and looking around smiling at the decorations.

"Well hello! Long time no see" said a voice behind her and she turned around and saw Neville

"Neville!" She cried and gave him a hug "I'm sorry it's been so long, I've been caught up with work and you know how hectic it can get. But it's so good to see you again, how have you been?"

"I've been good" he said "remember I told you about not being sure about being an auror for much longer? Well I talked with Professor Sprout and next year I will be taking over the Herbology position at Hogwarts"

"Oh that's fantastic Neville! I'm sorry happy for you!" And she hugged him again

"Yeah it is. Anyway what's new in your life?"

"Not much, you know me, I like to keep to myself and out of the Daily Prophet as much as I can" she smiled taking another sip of champagne

"Well I'm not going to lie, when I first read the articles I was a bit worried" laughed Neville

"Why?" Said Hermione frowning

"Because of what happened that one night" he said "I thought maybe… You know… You might be"

"Well" said Hermione blushing "I'm sure you're relieved the hear that it was Ginny all along"

Neville gave her a sad smile "Hermione there's going to be a day where you'll realise that many men would take a hex to be your other half, let alone the father of your children"

"That's very sweet of you Neville" said Hermione trying to bring the conversation to a natural end before it became too awkward or someone overheard them "but right now I think I need to learn to be happy alone"

"Well if you ever need anything I'm an owl away" said Neville and he gave her another tight hug.

"I better find Ginny" said Hermione composing herself "I'll catch up you later?"

They bid good-byes and Hermione refilled her drink and started making her away around the busy venue. She greeted various witches and wizards that she hadn't seen since Hogwarts, made polite conversation with work colleagues from the ministry, smiled and dodged questions regarding her divorce and laughed off the questions about the articles that had been published about her. It felt like she was on a press conference, answering questions that people thought they were entitled to ask simply due to the fact that she was in the press.

Finally Harry and Ginny made their appearance and the attention was focused on them. Ginny's bump was draped in a beautiful pale pink dress and the was glowing, whilst Harry was beaming. Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had seen her best friend look so happy, full and content.

"This is what life is about, love and family" Hermione thought to herself wistfully and dabbed at the tears that were threatening her eyes.

"Wonder who's going to be more famous, the boy who lived or the baby of the boy who lived?" Said a voice behind her jokingly. She whirled around and saw Ron standing behind her. He was wearing a crisp white shirt with a dark blue blazer and matching trousers, he looked very smart indeed.

"Ron" she said taking him in "you look very sharp!"

"Well I think mum would have hexed me into an early grave if I didn't clean up for today" he laughed "plus to be honest, this whole baby thing has put a lot of things into perspective, I'm going to be an uncle"

"And I haven't had the chance to congratulate you" said Hermione beaming "I'm really happy for you, and I'm glad to see you so well"

"Yeah…" said Ron looking at his sister "there's still dark days Hermione, there's days where I wonder whether I messed it all up, whether that'll be me with a wife who's carrying my child, but I need to keep fighting, for my family"

"Yes" said Hermione and she gave him a hug "and I'm your family too no matter if we're married or not"

"Thanks Mione" he said and gave her a kiss on the top of her head "it means a lot"

"Now, now" she said jokingly "I've just answered over a thousand questions over our broken marriage, let's not give people more rumours to spread and talk about"

Ron laughed "we're at the Potter's baby shower, trust me it won't be about any one else that people are caring about today"

They continued to talk and catch up about Ron's family, how Mrs Weasley was now pouring all her time and energy into the arrival of her first grandchild, how Ginny was sick of her mollycoddling and how Ron was slowly getting back into the swing of work and head been travelling around Europe.

As they were discussing yet another wizarding strike in France there was a loud cough behind them making them glance there stood Pansy Parkinson. She was wearing a two piece pale lavender suit that hugged her body, her hair was smooth, cascading down her shoulders and back and her makeup made her face look like a perfect sculpture, Hermione hated to admit it but she looked beautiful.

"Granger" she said curtly.

"Pansy" said Hermione nodding "looking lovely"

"Thank you" she replied curtly "I see you found my man?"

"Just catching up with my ex-husband" smiled Hermione "I was pleased to hear you two have made up again"

"Well it certainly wasn't easy with you" she said "every time I turn my back I seem to see you two glued together"

"Pansy" said Ron warningly "this is my sister's baby shower, you will not make a scene here."

"Oh I don't want to draw attention to myself" she retorted "although I don't think it possible for your mother to hate me anymore than she already does"

"She doesn't know you yet" said Ron soothingly and stroked her back

"Well I'll let you two be" said Hermione smiling "maybe I'll catch up with you later"

She gracefully darted away from them. However fine she was about her divorce from Ron she was not in the mood to see her former husband all over Pansy Parkinson. Not sure what to do she made her way to get another refreshment and saw the last person she expected to see at the Potter's baby shower helping himself to a glass of red wine.

Draco Malfoy.

"Draco" she said surprised "I wouldn't have ever thought to find you here"

"Ms Granger" nodded Draco "yes indeed, I was invited by the Potters, I'm sure it was more of a formality than anything else but I would have been in poor taste to decline, we should be building bridges and celebrating after all"

"Very wise and mature of you" she smiled "well I'm glad you're here, I don't think I can take anymore of Ron and Pansy"

"Oh is my dear ex-wife here? She must be avoiding me" said Draco drily "see the day after the divorce was finalised I came home to an empty house, woman never cleaned a thing for years but she quickly cleared up all her belongings and left rather than face me"

"Sometimes it's easier not looking back" said Hermione

"Sometimes you owe people the respect they showed you and give them a final explanation" said Draco curtly

"Don't tell me you're heartbroken?" Said Hermione "you're the most eligible bachelor in the wizard world now"

"I married her and envisioned a future with her" said Draco "whether we viewed it more as a deal than an act of love and passion, we made vows and she has broken every single one of them"

"You're speaking lawyer again" said Hermione feigning a yawn "think you need a few more glasses of wine"

"Very witty Ms Granger" he smirked "I see you seem to be doing just fine?"

"Well fine is a strong word" she laughed "some days I drown myself in work to not think, but the days I do think I feel alone and very unaccomplished, I feel like my life doesn't have much reason. But I don't let myself dwell on that"

"Been on any dates?" Asked Draco

"Looking to sell a story to the Prophet?" Smiled Hermione

"I could buy the Prophet, I see no sense in selling them anything" laughed Draco "so stop avoiding the question, have you been on any dates"

"No" said Hermione "remember the night you told me you thought you were cursed to never be loved?"

"Vaguely?"

"Well I feel like that too" she said honestly "I don't know whether people like me for me or my accolades or whether they're looking to sell a story about me, and the perfectly respectable men who do approach me I seem to scare away"

"Like Mr Longbottom?" Asked Draco

"How did you know about that" she said her mouth hanging open

"Because he's across the room engaged in conversation with Parvati Patil and still glances over at you every two minutes" he smiled

Hermione held her head in her hands "Why do I do this?!" She moaned

"You know I'm not a respectable man"

"What?"

"You said you scare away respectable men, I'm simply pointing out I am not one of them"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Why don't we try?" He asked

"Try what" she asked going red and looking at her feet

"A date Ms Granger" sighed Draco exasperated "we are no longer lawyer and client and we are both in the throws of a broken marriage, why not go for a date, worst comes to worst, it'll be a nice meal I paid for"

"I don't need you to pay for anything" she said angrily

"That's what you got from my proposition?" He said rolling his eyes "very well, I can see you are not interested"

And he walked away into the crowed, pausing to congratulate Ginny and Harry on their baby and bidding them goodbye.

And that is it for another chapter! As always please leave your comments and reviews below and I will get back to you as quickly as I can! If you are still following this story I thank you for your patience and support. I will do better in the new year when the christmas craze is over and my schedule goes back to normal!

All my love, always

Lumos Nox


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